Every year, new cases of people who are suffering from gout are being diagnosed. Many of these people have suffered so much that their activities of daily living have already been affected. Some of them become helpless and have suffered from depression since they think that having the disease causes them to become dependent and ineffective in the society.
If you are one of these persons, it is very important that you should be able to understand your disease before doing something for it. It is unwise to act without thinking or knowing what gout is.
What is Gout?
It is a disease caused by a defect in purine metabolism or digestion marked by urate deposits, which cause painful arthritic joints. It typically affects men over 50 years of age.
How Do You Know That You are Suffering from Gout?
The initial assessment or finding on persons with gout includes painful joints, especially on the big toe, joint inflammation, tenderness, presence of urate deposits around the joint area and the area of inflammation is warm to touch.
The person will also suffer a low-grade fever and a diagnostic test would usually reveal elevated urinary uric acid.
How Can You Relieve the Symptoms of Gout?
It is advisable that you should maintain bed rest during an acute attack. You should also refrain from walking or doing activities that involves the inflamed joints. In other words, you should immobilize the affected area.
You should also drink an adequate amount of fluids and avoid foods that are rich on purine. If you are an obese person, you should find ways to reduce your weight, such as eating a well-balance diet. You should avoid diets that consist of high fat or high in cholesterol, like eggs, veal, lamb, bacon, lobster, ice cream, and hotdogs.
There are certain types of foods that you should avoid. In addition to those mentioned earlier, you should avoid foods that have high purine content. These include meat extracts, shellfish, liver, organ meats, sardines, mussels, anchovies, chicken, turkey, beans, lentils, peas, spinach, cauliflower, and asparagus.
Exercise is not totally forbidden with persons suffering from gout. But you should see to it that you will just perform mild exercise such as walking, sitting and raising legs, or stretching. Strenuous exercise, such as jogging and weight lifting, are not allowed. You should also take a break or rest from your exercise or activity once you feel or perceive that the symptoms will be present.
When to Consult Medical Advice?
A lot of patients with gout in the United States usually seek medical advice or intervention once they can’t tolerate the symptoms of the disease. This is because, when medical interventions are not given, your disease can worsen and some symptoms are quite hard to relieve. So, always see to it that you consult medical advice, especially when you are in doubt on how to manage your disease.