Gout is just one of the many forms of arthritis, an affection of the joints that can be found in millions of people. Gout is the most encountered type of arthritis, and it manifests as an attack that usually appears during the night. The joint that is affected by the gout attack is the one that can be found in one of the big toes in most cases, (the big toe's ball) but gout can affect one of the joints from the ankles too. If gout is left untreated then the attacks start to appear more and more often and they will spread to other joints. In this situation treatment is required, because gout can turn into chronic gout and cripple the joints.



Gout appears at people who have too much uric acid in their body. Uric acid is created from the food which is digested and decomposed into its basic elements which are absorbed by the body. Sometimes there is too much uric acid in the blood. This uric acid starts to crystallize in the joints and causes irritation and inflammation and soon, gout occurs.

Therefore, the cause of gout is too much uric acid in the blood.

But what can cause the level of uric acid found in the blood to raise above the normal limit?

Well this can be caused by obesity, certain types of medication, or too much alcohol consumption.

If you want to prevent or treat gout then you need to reduce the levels of uric acid from the blood. You can do this by changing your diet so that it doesn't contain the types of food that contain purines, substances that raises the uric acid level. Red meat, peas, liver and shellfish are foods that have a lot of purines in them. So you should eat very little, or avoid eating any of the mentioned above.

There is also medication that can lower the amount of uric acid from the body but don't take any unless the doctor tells to do so because this medication can cause problems if the dose is not properly controlled.

If gout is left untreated for a long time then complications can appear. This happens because uric salts start to gather around the joints and cause small bulges. These bulges are treated with special medication prescribed by the doctor.

So if you have suffered from a gout attack visit your doctor soon and listen carefully to his advice. You will be given some pills that you have to take every day and you will be advised to change your diet to reduce the uric acid from the blood. If you do so you won't have any problems with gout anymore.