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Many people waking up in the middle of the night to the intense pain of gout might wonder – “What is gout; and why am I suffering from it?”
Gout, once known as the rich man’s disease, is a condition most commonly associated with metabolic syndrome and poor diet. It causes reoccurring attacks of inflammatory arthritis (usually at night, due to body temperature being lower) that leave the joint red, swollen, hot, sensitive and extremely painful.
Gout most commonly affects the big toe (nearly 1 out very 2 cases) and pain can last anywhere from a few hours to all night. Some people with gout also experience tophi (hardened deposits of uric acid crystals), high fevers, and/or fatigue. If left untreated, a gout attack will usually last about a week, but many gout sufferers will experience another gout attack in less than a year after the previous gout attack and future gout attacks normally last longer, with less time between relapses.
Rates of gout have gone up in the past few decades, with the last 20 years seeing an increase of nearly 200%. Gout sufferers are typically males over the age of 30 or women over the age of 50. Alcohol use, dietary choices, and overall lifestyle play a big part in determining who gets gout and who doesn’t; genetics also play a part – though typically more in determining who is at risk for developing gout. It is estimated that over 5 million Americans alone have gout and many more will experience gout symptoms for the first time this year.
Gout pain is considered by most sufferers to be the worst pain possible and with the average attack lasting as long as a week, it’s easy to see why more than 1 in every 5 gout sufferers loses time at work due to a gout attack and 3 out of 4 gout sufferers say their mobility is affected. Asked to describe gout, one English doctor in 1863 said this:
The pain is like that of a dislocation, and yet parts feel as if cold water were poured over them. Then follows chills and shivers, and a little fever… The night is passed in torture, sleeplessness, turning the part affected, and perpetual change of posture; the tossing about of body being as incessant as the pain of the tortured joint, and being worse as the fit comes on.
Gout is commonly treated with NSAIDs (NonSteriodal AntiInflammatory Drugs), colchicines, or prescription drugs, but they are not without their downsides. Puricase ,a popular drug prescribed for gout, has drawn criticism for the higher than normal incidence of cardiovascular side effects and heart issues suffered by patients; NSAIDs users can experience stomach upset, ulcers, skin rashes, and heartburn; and colchicines can cause a loss of white blood cells or numbness in extremities in some patients (alert your doctor if this occurs).
Alternatives gout treatments usually focus on dietary changes, since diet plays a big part in the development of gout. One popular guide, called Everything You Need To Know About Gout Relief, offers readers a list of foods that eliminate gout symptoms and foods that trigger gout symptoms to help gout sufferers avoid a potential gout attack. It also offers a list of vitamins and herbs to take, and a home remedy said to eliminate gout pain in less than an hour. As with any program, you should consult with your doctor before beginning any new treatment plan.
What is Gout – Early Indications of Arthritis
Arthritis is not only one thing that has an effect on the elderly. While it is accurate that a great many people develop arthritis as they get older, it is also true that arthritis can develop early on as well. Many men and women acquire arthritis after breaking a bone. Early arthritis might possibly be genetic. Obviously, if you learn the way to identify the signs early on, you will be better prepared to treat it. This can help you maintain your full range of movements for longer in life. If you let early onset arthritis to take hold, it will be a lot more difficult for you to stay healthy and fit. Here are a few things to hunt for.
Joint pain is an obvious warning of arthritis. While joint pain is usually an signal of any number of things, it is one of the most clear indicators of arthritis. If the pain in your joints worsens with weather conditions (most obviously moisture in the air or decreased temperatures) or only comes on when you have a fever it is more likely an indicator of the early stages of arthritis. Ask your doctor to do some X-Rays to figure out if there are other causes for your joint pain. Don’t just pop an Advil and hope the ache goes away.
One symptom of early onset arthritis that a majority of folks find distressing is losing the ability to move your joints regularly. Some stiffness is common. If our muscles are tense or, if we catch the flu or a virus, our joints could possibly get stiff. If the tightness doesn’t disappear once you have cleared up your illness, you need to see a doctor. You cannot just “exercise it away” and also hope for the best. You could end up accidentally shredding your muscles and making things worse for yourself. Your doctor can perform two or three muscle tests to figure out whether you have early onset arthritis or not.
Do your joints feel hot? Contact your physician. Warm joints shows that the body is sending more blood to those places in an attempt to fix a problem that you probably cannot see. If your joints are hotter than some other areas in your body it is advisable to call your doctor immediately. It’s true that this is a hint of arthritis but it may also be a symptom for something worse. The only way to figure it out for certain is to contact your doctor and let him or her perform some tests.
Arthritis doesn’t need to be a terrible prognosis. There are extensive improvements made in this field every day. Simply put, if you figure it out early on enough, there are several things that you can do (therapies, medications) to slow down the progression of the disease. You are no longer bound to copper necklaces and struggling. Many new improvements and insights have taken place that could allow arthritis sufferers to retain their ranges of motion for a lot longer than they used to. Try to keep an optimistic frame of mind. There are many people that suffer from arthritis that have fully normal lives.
