Gout is a medical condition that can cause sudden intense painful attacks at the joints, causing swelling and redness of the joint tissues. It usually attacks the joint of the big toe but this does not rule out the attacks on other joints. Gout usually affects men with 9 out of 10 patients being men. Once gout starts to attack other joints, it leads to inflammatory arthritis. In this article, we will look at the relationship between Gout and Joint pain.
Gout happens due to an excessive accumulation of uric acid. Uric acid is formed when the body breaks down an aromatic organic compound called purines. Purines are found in foods such as livers, beans, mackerel and beer. Overconsumption of such foods will lead to a high level of purines, resulting in too much uric acid. The body’s natural mechanism of dealing with uric acid is by passing them out through urination but when this urination process is less efficient, hyperuricemia occurs, leading to gout.
Gout happens through 3 basic stages:
Asymptomatic hyperuricemia
This is the onset of gout. In this first stage, the patient starts to have an excessive accumulation of uric acid in the body but no other symptoms or problems are present. It is also in this stage that the problem can easily be reversed by significantly reducing the amount of purine-rich foods.
Acute gouty arthritis
When no actions were performed to limit the consumption of purine-rich foods, the uric acid levels will increased and lead to the formation of uric crystals in the spaces between the joint. Due to the crystals and high acidity, sudden onset of intense pain will occur and this can lead to swelling in the joints. Attacks will be infrequent and can be spaced weeks or even months apart from each, but as time passes, the attacks will become more and more common.
Chronic tophaceous gout
This stage is the most serious and will only happen after 10 years. A patient will only reach this stage when he makes no attempt to seek treatment and gout has caused a permanent damage to the joints and kidneys.
There is an exponential relationship between gout and joint pain, leading to sudden onsets of pain attack and swelling. However, reaching from one stage to the other takes time and during the periods, it can be treated by medication and reduction in consumption of purine-rich foods. Gout will cause a lot of trauma and severely affect patients.
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