Gout is a type of rheumatic disease which is highly painful. Gout is developed due to deposition of uric acid in soft connective tissues. Uric acid forms needle like crystals and get deposited in joints between bones. This results in inflammation, redness, swelling, pain, heat and stiffness in joints, characteristic to inflammatory arthritis. Gout accounts for about five percent of total arthritis, which refers to more than hundreds of various rheumatic diseases affecting muscles, joints and bones. It is also responsible for inflammation in other types of tissues and structures. Another condition known as pseudo gout also resembles gout with some of the symptoms and creates confusion that it is actually gout. In pseudo gout, inflammation is due to deposition of crystals of calcium phosphate. This can also cause severe pain and redness. Pseudo gout is also known as chondrocalcinosis and the treatment methods are different from gout.
Uric acid is a degradation product of purine catabolism. Purines constitute a type of building block of genetic material- DNA and RNA. As this mechanism is taking place in all tissues and purines are found in many food products, the amount of uric acid produced in body is fairly high. In normal individuals, uric acid gets dissolved in blood and reaches kidney. During the process of filtration, it enters urine and is expelled from body. If there is any failure in filtration of kidney or increase in production of uric acid by body, the level gets elevated in blood. This condition is known as hyperuricemia.
The chance of increase of uric acid in blood is due to intake of food materials having high content of purines. Food items like lever, peas, dried beans, gravies and anchovies are rich in purines. Hyperuricemia by itself is not harmful to body and is not considered as a disease. It causes complaint only after resulting in formation of needle like crystals that accumulate in joints. The deposition of uric acid crystals are known as ‘tophi’ (singular: tophus) and can be felt as lumps around joints, under skin and in the rim of ear. The chance of developing kidney stones is also high due to accumulation of uric acid crystals in kidney. Commonly, the primary symptom of gout is pain and slight inflammation in joints of big toe. In about 75 percent of patients with gout, pain has been developed in joint of big toe. |
