Gout and uric acid

Gout occurs when uric acid in the blood stream becomes too concentrated.

Once the concentration of uric acid reaches a certain level it cannot stay dissolved in the blood.

When this happens the uric acid crystallizes out of the blood in the form of monosodium urate monohydrate.

Uric acid crystals are tiny needle-shaped crystals, between 5 and 25 microns in length.

When they crystallise out of the blood they deposit into soft tissues, usually around the joints.

These crystals are seen as foreign bodies in your system, and as a result your system tries to get rid of them.

It does this by triggering an inflammatory response, much as it would if you had contracted a bacterial infection.

The inflammatory response is swift and severe, as any gout sufferer can attest.

These inflammatory cells are often smaller than the crystals they are trying to destroy.

Sometimes the inflammatory cells themselves may actually break down which will usually trigger even more of an inflammatory response.

The vast majority of people who have an acute gout attack will have had high concentrations of uric acid for several years before their first attack.

If someone has had an attack of gout and uric acid levels remain high, then that person is very likely to have another attack at some point in time.

Even if you have already had gout and uric acid levels remain high, you may not be experiencing gout symptoms.

But you can be sure that the uric acid crystals are still forming and still depositing into your soft tissues.

While there may be some specific medical issues causing high uric acid levels often the cause may be as simple as diet.

But don't forget that you should be seeing your doctor to make sure that it is not something more serious.

A doctor may also consider prescribing medication which can help keep your uric acid levels down.

Being overweight is strongly associated with gout.

Many studies have shown that just by losing weight a gout sufferer can reduce the likelihood of future attacks.

But you have to be careful that you don't have rapid weight loss, as this may actually cause you more problems and may trigger a gout attack.

Uric acid is a by-product of the digestion of foods high in purines.

A purine is a type of molecule similar to some of the most essential chemicals in the body.

Some foods are a lot higher in purines than others, and eating too many of these high-purine foods can lead to increased uric acid production.

This occurs when there is too much purine in the system, and not all of it can be converted to ATP which is the main energy source for the body.

It so happens that many of the low purine foods are actually quite healthy for you

And many of the high purine foods might be regarded as "unhealthy".

So as a consequence of switching to a low purine diet, you may find that you naturally lose weight as well

Hence reducing one of the other high risk factors for gout.

Gout and uric acid are very closely related. If you have suffered from gout then you can be certain that you have high uric acid levels.