All you need to know about Gout Disease ?
If you have ever noticed someone fighting with intense pain in the big toe, or someone might have shared with you a story of them suffering from some lingering pain or discomfort. Or, they might have shared with you their concern over some sort of redness, swelling, inflammation, or some kind of restriction in the movements.
You should be asking them to consult with an orthopaedic specialist or move to the nearest clinic like Apollo clinic, because the symptoms that they might have been suffering from reflects certain kind of arthritis-related and that is gout.
Yes! Gout is a kind of arthritis that comes suddenly and severely. This form of arthritis comes with intense pain and makes a person suffer from a roller coaster ride of pain. There are different types of gout that we will discuss in the latter part of the article. But, first,
let us learn a bit more (the basic) about this disease.
Let us absorb as to why this disorder shows up, to whom, and so on.
Gout is a common form of swelling and tenderness in one or more joints. It is a form of arthritis that affects one’s life in many ways. It creates obstacles in performing day-to-day activities. This disorder comes with an intense and sharp form of pain and most often develops in the big toe.
If you are suffering through such symptoms kindly consult with a specialist or pay a visit to the nearest clinic, say, Apollo clinic. According to one website named MedicalNewsToday, about 3 million individuals (Americans) gets affected by this disease. The males of the country get affected the most. What exactly is gout? The main cause of this disease is the excess amount of uric acid in the human body.
Gout starts to show signs and develops when urate crystals assemble in a joint or joints which then lead to a gout attack. When a person carries too much uric acid in his or her body, there or develops a condition called hyperuricemia. Due to this condition, the urate crystals are formed. They get racked up in joints and form gout. These crystals also assemble in the kidney.
Urate crystals are nothing but crystallized uric acid. It is always a good idea to keep a check on your uric acid level in the body. You might book an appointment for a uric acid test in a clinic like Apollo clinic and get your test done.
There are different types of stages through which gout advances. They are-
- Asymptomatic hyperuricemia: It is a disorder that happens to occur in individuals of all ages and gender. Hyperuricemia refers to the state where your body carries a high level of uric acid but it remains asymptomatic. Such elevated uric acid in the human body might pose a threat to the tissues. This results in a specialist or a doctor prescribing you to cut down on things that are highly responsible for the uric acid build-up in the body.
- Acute gout: It is the stage or the phase where the urate crystals that accumulated in a joint or joints start affecting you and your day-to-day activities by making you face intense pain. It causes inflammation suddenly in the joint (s). It is observed closely and admitted that this type of gout pain lasts for a maximum of 2 weeks. Extensive stress levels and heavy consumption of alcohol add spice to this form of gout. Therefore, it is always better to stay away from such habits that contribute more to affecting you and your health.
- Interval or intercritical gout: As the name itself suggests, interval or intercritical gout is the interval between the gouty attacks. These intervals happen to be shorter as gout in a person consistently advances. In between these times, urate crystals may develop in the tissue gradually.
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Chronic tophaceous gout
: This is the phase where it can provide permanent damage to your joint(s) and tissues. Suck kind of gout is related to several factors like family history, hypertension, renal impairment, obesity, etc. At this stage, individuals also suffer from chronic arthritis and tophi in the joints (especially joints in the fingers). Tissues sometimes get deposited with monosodium urate. These are stone-like structures and they are called tophi. Chronic tophaceous gout does not occur at the initial stage but develops after many years. But if a person gets alert and takes medical help at the early stage of gout, he or she might be fortunate enough to not suffer from the consequences of this type of gout.
- Pseudogout: This type of gout is caused by calcium pyrophosphate crystals. It is a condition that gives birth to issues like swelling and pain in the joint(s). This type of crystal generally affects the knees but can also affect the other joint(s) of the body. Many confuse gout with pseudogout. Gout is caused by the accumulation of urate crystals in the joint(s) but pseudogout occurs due to the development of build-up of calcium pyrophosphate crystals. Gout is treated with various treatments but pseudogout is treated differently.
Iet us decide & talk about the signs or the symptoms of gout.
It is humbly requested that if you are going through any of the below mentioned symptoms or conditions, you can type Apollo clinic or other such clinic to take an appointment and get diagnosed properly. These symptoms can make a person pay a huge amount of time, energy, and money for its treatment. Some of the symptoms are discussed below-
- Intense Joint Pain: When a person suffers from gout, he or she tends to suffer from gout. Gout generally affects the base of the big toe. When urate crystals accumulate in the joints of the big toe (or other joints of the body), a person suffers from an intense form of pain. Urate crystals are like toothpicks or needle-like structures with sharp ends.
- Lingering discomfort: An intense pain of gout takes time between 3 days to 2 weeks to stop bothering an individual. Even after the period of intense pain is over, there is some kind of pain or discomfort in the affected as well as nearby areas of the body.
- Redness and Inflammation: The affected area might turn reddish and inflamed. The joints swell up because of the warmth produced in the affected area and become red.
- Range of motion: When a person suffers from gout disease, he or she in due course of time may face several limitations in the movements of a joint(s). An individual might suffer from a limited range of motion, and might not be able to move joints in a way they used to enjoy earlier normally.