Treatment of gout attacks at home

Gout as a disease of kings described many centuries before our era. From gout (a disease of the musculoskeletal system) is suffering more than 5 people from thousands around the world. Men are the absolute majority of these patients. The age for men who suffer from gout - after 40 years, and for women - the period of the onset of menopause, after 45 years. With gout, the joints of the hands, feet, fingers, elbows are very sore. But most of all, it affects the toes. How to treat gout at home by yourself and how to cope with her bouts?

What is gout?

Gout is a type of joint disease that is rheumatic. Pain occurs because of the deposition of urate - it's salts of uric acid.

If you have gout, you know how you are unhappy during her attacks. You can not do anything to stop a gout attack, once it started, but there are things you can do to take care of the gout outbreak at home.

A gout attack occurs when the body's normal uric acid level rises, and uric acid builds up around the joint. Uric acid is formed there in the form of crystals, as a result of which we get painful outbreaks of gout. Many things, including alcohol abuse, eating some foods, stress and uncontrolled use of drugs, can cause the amount of uric acid to increase, making you completely open to gout.

Preventative symptoms of gout

Some people with gout, also known as gouty arthritis, are aware that a gout attack begins with burning, itching or tingling. These symptoms can begin an hour or two before the attack of gout. Soon after these alarming signals, a person begins to feel obvious signs of gout. If you have repeated gout attacks, you will already know from the signals of your body that a gout attack is about to begin.

For example, a person can wake up in the middle of the night, feeling severe pain in the joints of the legs.

When a gout attack begins, most people experience redness, swelling and severe pain - usually in one joint. The most common place for gout is the big toe, but pain can also occur in other joints, such as elbows, knees, wrists, ankles and feet.

The pain is often so severe that it is painful to take up a sore spot at all. Many people suffering from gout can safely say that even the feeling of touching the sheet to the inflamed joint is very painful.

Can not you eliminate the purines?

It is impossible - to eliminate all purines in the body and reduce the risk of gout attacks. But there are several products that contain a large number of purines that do not cause gout. One of the scientific studies showed that peas, beans, mushrooms, cauliflower, spinach, and chicken, previously considered products useful to people with gout, can not be associated with her bouts.

[1], [2]

How to find a diet that works for you

Excess weight increases the risk of gout. Thus, a balanced diet and loss of excess weight can help reduce gout symptoms. Talk with your doctor about making changes to the diet. You may find that you are now able to eat certain foods without the subsequent attack of gout. Other foods can provoke your body to react and can make a gout attack more frequent.

The gout is caused by excess uric acid in the blood. Over time, deposits of uric acid crystals are collected around the bone or cartilage. The buildup of uric acid may not cause any symptoms of gout - but this is only at first glance. If a certain area of the body becomes inflamed, then there is an attack of gout, with swelling, redness, and pain.

Acute gout attacks can be treated with anti-inflammatory drugs, such as ibuprofen or more potent prescription medications. But after the first attack, there is about 80% probability of another outbreak of gout within the next two years.

Some drugs are allowed to reduce the level of uric acid and reduce the risk of exacerbations. But in patients with serious diseases accompanying gout, effective treatment can be difficult.

Here are some of the most common attendant circumstances that complicate treatment:

• High blood pressure.
• Diabetes.
• Elevated cholesterol.

What if gout becomes a chronic problem?

When the level of uric acid in the blood becomes too high, more crystals of uric acid are deposited around the cartilage. Gout becomes a chronic disease, which leads to painful and damaged joints that destroy them.

Of course, seizures and the type of gout vary considerably depending on the characteristics of the person. Signs that the health of chronic gout may worsen include:

• More frequent and longer exacerbations of gouty arthritis: severe pain in the extremities. As the course of chronic gout is aggravated, outbreaks of pain occur more often and longer. Over time, inflammation leads to damage to bones and cartilage.
• Outbreaks of pain in other parts of the body. Approximately half of all patients with gout, the first pain attack occurs in the joint at the base of the thumb or leg. In chronic gout, other joints can also be affected, including the ankle and knee joints.
• Nodes formed under the skin. Uric acid crystals can begin to collect in soft tissues, forming nodules called tofusi. They usually appear on the hands, fingers, elbows and ears, but can appear on the body almost anywhere.
• Problems with the kidneys: uric acid, as a rule, passes through the kidneys. Kidney disease can cause uric acid crystals to build up and gout. But excess uric acid can also damage the kidneys. Kidney problems associated with chronic gout are also signs that the course of chronic gout is deteriorating. This condition includes attacks of pain in the kidneys, the formation of kidney stones and kidney failure.

Gout and development of tofusov

Tofusi, which are a sign of chronic gout, can appear anywhere on the body. But they, more likely, will be formed first of all on a cartilage of an ear or its cockleshell, elbows, Achilles tendon and around the amazed joints. Other complications associated with chronic gout include the formation of kidney stones and kidney disease.

To diagnose gout, doctors usually measure the level of uric acid in the blood. A uric acid level of 6.8 mg / dL or higher can lead to the formation of uric acid crystals. However, the level of uric acid is not a sufficient indicator of the severity of gout.

Some people have significantly increased levels of uric acid - and no symptoms of gout. Others may suffer from serious gout attacks and have only slightly elevated levels of uric acid. If the uric acid level reaches 11 mg / dL, doctors usually recommend reducing the level of uric acid with medications, even if there are no symptoms of gout.

The goal of treating gout is to bring the level of uric acid in the blood to 6 mg / dL at least, or even lower, if the patient has tofusi. When the level of uric acid drops sufficiently low, accumulations of uric acid crystals begin to dissolve. And this is an excellent result.

Home care during a gout attack

If gout has been diagnosed and your doctor has given you a medicine to suppress gout attacks, you should take the medication as directed by your doctor during the attacks.

Your doctor can prescribe non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) such as naproxen (Aleve), ibuprofen (Motrin, Advil), indomethacin (Indocin), sulindac (Clinoril), celecoxib (Celebrex), or meloxicam (Mobic) or offer you take medicines without a prescription provided a dose is prescribed. As a rule, this is effective.

In some cases, you can already take a medicine that will help avoid gout flare. Your doctor can suggest:

• allopurinol (Lopurin, Zyloprim)
• Colchicine (Colcrys)
• probenecid (Benemid)
• anturane (sulfinpyrazone)

If you still have gout attacks, this does not mean that these drugs do not work. In the first few months that you are taking treatment for this type of gout, her seizures may continue, and still your body reacts to the medications. Continue to take and preventive medicines as well.

If you took prophylactic remedies for gout for a long time and for the first time during this time you started having seizures, contact your doctor. He can advise you to change doses or medications.

Increased fluid intake during gout attacks

Changing the diet can help you manage chronic gout and help reduce symptoms such as joint pain. First practice an increase in fluid, as dehydration can cause gout attacks. One study showed that men who drank from 5 to 8 glasses of water in a 24-hour period received an excellent result: a 40% reduction in the risk of gout attacks. But you also need to avoid sweet carbonated drinks, which can increase the risk of an attack.

Watch for consumption of products with purines

People with gout can benefit from eating low purines. Purines are substances that are found in nature in many foods. The accumulation of uric acid, which causes gout, is due to the breakdown of purines.

Some products, for example, meat by-products, sardines and anchovies, are products with a high content of harmful substances - purines. You should avoid them if they can lead to a bout of gout.

But you can still eat with less purines, such as beans, lentils, asparagus. Talk with your dietitian about what foods you can safely include in the menu.

Eat lots of fruit

Fruits, as a rule, contain very few purines. But they provide for the body complex carbohydrates and other nutrients that will help you maintain good health. Some fruits can help with gout attacks. There are fruits high in vitamin C, such as mandarins and oranges, they can help prevent gout attacks. Some studies show that the use of cherries or cherry juice can help those affected by gout. Ask your doctor if you can add cherries to your diet.

[3], [4], [5],

Choose the right carbohydrates

If you follow a low-carb diet, which will also be high in protein or fat, you can consume too much harmful purines. Foods high in protein, as a rule, contain a lot of purines. Refined carbohydrates, such as bread and pasta, contain very few purines. But you do not want to replenish because of these carbohydrates. Therefore, instead of them, focus on healthy carbohydrates with a high fiber content, such as oats, sweet potatoes, beans and vegetables.

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Essential fats for preventing gout

Increase the consumption of foods rich in fatty acids, including deep-sea fish, such as tuna and salmon, flaxseed and other seeds and necessarily - nuts. Fatty acids can help reduce inflammation of the joints. Use fatty acids, such as olive oil for cooking and salad dressing. And try to reduce or get rid of any trans fats in your diet.

[7], [8], [9], [10], [11]

Limit alcohol

Alcohol can increase the risk of developing gout, because it is a drink with a high level of harmful purines, especially if you take alcohol more than one servings per day. Beer, it turns out, is even worse than other alcoholic beverages, since it contains yeast. Moderate consumption of wine does not increase the risk of developing gout.

Use caffeine cautiously

Moderate drinking of coffee is considered a good method for people with gout. And some people who regularly drink coffee drink four or more cups of coffee a day - it turns out that this can reduce the risk of gout attacks. But beverages with caffeine can increase the level of uric acid in some people who just drink coffee from time to time. Talk with your doctor about how often you need to drink coffee and how exactly caffeine consumption causes a gout attack.

Enjoy low-fat dairy products

Dairy products were once banned for people with gout, because these foods are made from animal proteins. But dairy products actually have a low level of purines and milk purines, without causing gout attacks.

In fact, if you drink low-fat milk and eat low-fat dairy products, you can reduce the risk of developing gout by more than 40%. During an attack of gout, low-fat dairy products can help you get rid of excess uric acid through urine.

[12]

Control of chronic gout

After the first attack, doctors are usually waiting for gout to begin to harass a person again before recommending drugs that lower the level of uric acid. Because of possible side effects, doctors do not want to transfer patients to long-term therapy until they are convinced that gout is really chronic. Nevertheless, doctors can recommend a medicine that inhibits the development of tofus.

[13], [14], [15], [16], [17], [18], [19]

New possibilities for treating gout

Some drugs have long been used to treat chronic gout, lowering the level of uric acid in the blood, including allopurinol (Lopurin, Zyloprim) and probenecid (Benemid). It is important that these drugs can be taken throughout life, that the level of uric acid in the blood was maintained at the proper level.

New promising methods of treatment are being tested, which can give new hope to people with chronic gouty arthritis. Conclusions from fundamental research will lead to new options for treating gout in the future.

Harmful drugs

Ironically, drugs that lower the level of uric acid can sometimes cause acute exacerbation of gout, especially during the first two weeks of treatment. When drugs begin to break down the crystals of uric acid, you can get a sudden inflammatory reaction. To prevent a flash of pain in gout, doctors prescribe anti-inflammatory drugs, as well as drugs that reduce the level of uric acid. Most experts recommend continuing to take anti-inflammatory drugs for 6 months, so that the accumulation of uric acid is completely eliminated.

Treatment of gout can be complicated in patients with other serious diseases, such as kidney disease. However, according to experts, many patients should not suffer from repeated attacks of gout or joint damage if the treatment is really effective.