According to Dr. Do Hue, Deputy Head of the Department of Musculoskeletal, Nhan Te Hospital (China), gout is a metabolic disorder related to prolonged hyperuricemia. If not treated properly, the disease can progress to chronic arthritis, the appearance of tophi granules, urinary stones and kidney damage.
One of the common misunderstandings is that just because you have increased uric acid in your blood, you have got gout and need immediate treatment.
In fact, increased uric acid in the blood is only the most important risk factor for gout, but not everyone with high uric acid will have arthritis attacks. Whether medication is needed or not must be assessed by a doctor based on uric acid levels, clinical symptoms and risk of complications.
Diet plays an important role in controlling gout, but cannot replace medication when indicated.
Experts say that even applying a very low-purine diet, uric acid levels only decrease at a limited level. Conversely, uncontrolled eating can cause uric acid to increase rapidly and trigger acute gout attacks.
Patients should limit animal organs, seafood, sardines, crabs, clams and other purine-rich foods. At the same time, it is necessary to reduce alcohol, sugary soft drinks, maintain a reasonable weight and follow the treatment regimen according to the doctor's instructions.
Although diet affects gout, this is not the only cause.
The risk of the disease is also increased in men aged 40–60, postmenopausal women, obese people, high blood pressure, diabetes, dyslipidemia, or those with a family history of gout or urinary stones. In addition, some medications such as diuretics or low-dose aspirin can also affect uric acid excretion.
About 70% of patients initiate the first gout attack at the big toe joint. However, the disease can also appear in the ankle, knee, toes, heel, Achilles tendon, wrist, elbow or finger joints.
According to experts, urate crystals tend to deposit in locations with low temperatures, high pressure, or frequent exercise. Therefore, in addition to joints, they can also accumulate in the ears, kidneys, and urinary tracts, causing many complications if not controlled.
Another mistake is that many people stop taking medication as soon as the pain disappears or when the uric acid index returns to normal.
Experts emphasize that gout is a chronic disease that needs to be controlled for a long time. After achieving the treatment goal, the doctor may consider reducing the dose of medication, but patients should not arbitrarily stop treatment because uric acid will quickly increase again, increasing the risk of recurrence and complications.
Gout treatment usually consists of three stages: controlling acute gout attacks with anti-inflammatory and pain relievers; lowering uric acid combined with lifestyle adjustments in the early stages; then maintaining long-term treatment to keep uric acid at the target level and prevent recurrence as well as complications in the joints, kidneys and cardiovascular system.
According to experts, to effectively control gout, patients need to combine using medication as prescribed with a reasonable diet, maintaining a healthy weight, limiting alcohol and periodic check-ups. These are important factors to help reduce the number of recurrences and limit long-term damage.
