Read all about Gout, its symptoms, causes, diagnosis - followed by treatment and dietary management.

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What Is Gout? (Understanding Gouts symptoms, causes and treatment) Risk factors for Gout
Factors which increase the susceptibility to gout are:

Excessive alcohol consumption interferes with the body’s capacity to excrete uric acid.
Untreated high blood pressure, diabetes, high cholesterol, arteriosclerosis (narrowing of arteries) increases the susceptibility to gout.
Use of certain medications like, thiazide diuretics, low dose of aspirin, anti rejection drugs (for those who have undergone organ transplants) may also be responsible.
Family history - 6-18 % of gout patients have a family history.
Gender- men are more prone to it, but after menopause, women are equally prone to developing gout.
Age – men tend to develop gout between the ages of 40-50 and women tend to develop it after menopause.
Being overweight increases the risk of developing gout.

Diagnosis of Gout

Joint fluid test- a needle is used to draw fluid from the joint to detect uric acid crystals
Blood test to check for uric acid levels.

Fortunately, with proper treatment gout can be stopped from getting worse and the pain can be managed.
For dietary changes to help manage gout – please read the next article in the Gout series – Top ten foods for managing 'Gout'

By Poonam Vaswani
Sr. Dietitian NutritionVista.com

NutritionVista

User Comments

13 October, 2011 | Sheshadri T N | Reply

Can Gout occur in vegetarians too. There is common notion that vegetarians do not get sufficient proteins for the vegetarian diet and that only people who eat non-veg foods have high Uric Acid levels?

17 October, 2011 | Poonam | Reply

Genetics plays an important role in the occurance of gout. Alcohol consumption and diet are also responsible. There are many vegetarian foods which contain high amounts of purines which get converted to uric acid. These are all reasons why vegetarians too are at risk for developing gout.

11 October, 2011 | Sandeep | Reply

What is the difference between gout & arthritis?

12 October, 2011 | Poonam | Reply

Hello Mr Sandeep
Arthritis is a general term used to describe a condition in which inflammation occurs in joints. Causes are usually either autoimmune or wear and tear. Gout is a kind of arthritis. It is triggered by the presence of uric acid crystals. Both are characterised by redness, swelling, warmth, pain, and reduced function.

07 October, 2011 | vijay kumar jaiswal | Reply

liked the article. No doubt good information,send the treatment with homeopathy.thanks

05 October, 2011 | Dr.Rajni Tatia | Reply

Great article,Thanks for sharing

05 October, 2011 | Boots No 7 Protect And Perfect | Reply

Great article and thanks for sharing the Gout problem....

01 October, 2011 | Abhinav | Reply

Is there any relation between Hypothyroidism and Gout?

04 October, 2011 | Vijayalakshmi Iyengar | Reply

Dear Abhinav, yes studies have reported a higher prevalence of gout in people with hypothyroidism.In fact low levels of thyroid hormone may even trigger gout. On the other hand there is also some evidence to suggest that hyperthyroidism (high levels of thyroid hormone) can increase uric acid levels, although not to the degree that low thyroid hormones levels do.

01 October, 2011 | Vijayalakshmi Iyengar | Reply

In Patients predisposed to developing gout, certain conditions can precipitate acute attacks of the same. These conditions include dehydration, injury to the joint, fever, excessive eating, heavy alcohol intake, and recent surgery.
Conditions where you can observe changes in the body-fluid balance. Compelling oneself to drink plenty of water can reduce this risk.

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