Gout, also called gouty arthritis, is a painful but treatable form of arthritis that affects up to five million Americans, primarily men over the age of forty.
The disease is characterized by sudden and severe pain, redness, swelling, heat, stiffness, and inflammation in one or more joints. It most commonly affects the big toe first.
Subsequent attacks of gout, usually limited to a single joint at a time, can occur in the instep, ankles, heels of the feet and hands, knees, wrists, fingers, and elbows.
Gout is caused by needle-like crystals of uric acid, a substance that results from the metabolic breakdown of purines, which are found in many foods and are part of normal human tissue.. Uric acid is normally dissolved in the blood and filtered through the kidneys into the urine.
If uric acid production is increased by the body or it is not sufficiently eliminated from the kidneys, it can build up in the blood., resulting in a condition called hyperuricemia (high uric acid). This can lead to gout. High amounts of uric acid can also collect in the kidneys, causing kidney stones.
