Gout is a type of arthritis which is very painful, and it’s caused by having sodium urate crystals in your joints. These may be present in the body for years without being aware they’re there, but on occasions, they can trigger an attack of gout.
The attacks of gout commonly manifest very quick, often during the night. Doctors explain this sudden development of symptoms as ‘acute’.
At one time it was thought that gout was caused simply by overeating and drinking too much alcohol. While this may make attacks of gout more likely, it’s not the whole story.
Gout is as a result of chemical processes that take place in the body. A substance known as urate builds up, at times because the kidneys aren’t able to get rid of it quickly enough. Over a period of time this cause urate crystal forming in and around the joints.
When there are present of too much of crystals in the joints some of them can trigger a sudden painful episode of severe joint inflammation that attack which usually settles back to appear normal within a week. If not attend to, these attacks get more common and spread to involve new joints.
Gout is the most common type of inflammatory arthritis, affect adults around the globe. It affects men more than women and can affect men at any age stage. It is rare for women to develop gout before the menopause.
It is also discovered that Gout occurs in people who have levels of urate in their blood that are persistently above a critical level which gives urate crystals to form. Two-thirds of the urate in the bodies comes from the breakdown of purines that are naturally present in the cells of the bodies. The other third comes from the breakdown of purines in foods and drinks.
Having urate in the blood doesn’t mean it will definitely develop gout, it’s normal and healthy to have little urate in the bloodstream. When urate levels start to build up, the body usually gets rid of any excess urate through the kidneys into the urine; however, if the body is making too much urate or the kidneys are unable to remove enough urate, then urate levels start to rise. If the level goes above a certain point that the saturation point, it’s possible for urate to form crystals of sodium urate.