Gout, What is It?
Gout is a disease that is caused by an overload of uric acid and this causes the formation of crystals of uric acid that deposit in the joints and other tissues.
Gout in the joints causes ongoing attacks of joint inflammation and leads to deposits of hard lumps of uric acid in and around the joints. This causes the joint destruction, reduced kidney function, and kidney stones. But it can be cured.
Gout is a very common disease and has been associated with an inherited abnormality in the body's ability to process uric acid. Uric acid is a breakdown product of many foods we eat. This abnormality causes attacks of painful arthritis (gout attack), and blockage of the kidney-filtering tubules with uric acid crystals, leading to kidney failure. Other people may only develop elevated blood uric acid levels (hyperuricemia) without having arthritis or kidney problems. Gout is nine times more common in men than in women. It mainly attacks males after puberty, with a peak age of 75. In women, gout attacks mainly occur after menopause.An elevated blood level of uric acid may indicate an increased risk of gout, but many patients with hyperuricemia do not go on to develop gout, while some patients with repeated gout attacks have normal or low blood uric acid levels.
Who Gets Gout? 
In addition to those with an inherited abnormality in handling uric acid, other risk factors for developing gout include obesity, excessive weight gain, moderate to heavy alcohol intake, elevated blood pressure, and kidney dysfunction. Certain drugs, such as thiazide diuretics, low-dose aspirin and others can cause elevated uric acid levels in the blood and lead to gout. Certain diseases cause excessive production of uric acid in the body, such as leukemias, lymphomas, and haemoglobin disorders. In those at risk of developing gout, certain conditions may precipitate acute attacks of gout. These include dehydration, injury to the joint, fever, excessive eating and heavy alcohol intake.
What are the symptoms of Gout?
The small joint of the big toe is the most common site of acute gout attacks. Other joints that are affected include the ankles, knees, wrists, fingers, and elbows. Acute gout attacks are characterized by rapid onset of pain in the affected joint followed by warmth, swelling, reddish colouration, and marked tenderness. Tenderness is intense so that even pressure on the skin over the affected joint is unbearable. Patients may develop fever with the acute gout attacks and these painful attacks usually subside in hours to days, with or without medication. Rarely, an attack could last for weeks. Most people with gout will experience repeated attacks of arthritis over the years.With chronic gout, small hard masses of uric acid crystals deposit in different soft-tissue areas of the body, most commonly found around the fingers, at the tips of the elbows, in the ears, and around the big toe. They have been reported in unexpected areas such as in the vocal cords and even around the spinal cord!
How is Gout treated?
There are two key elements to treating gout. First, it is critical to stop the acute inflammation of joints affected by gout induced arthritis. Second, to address the long-term management of the disease in order to prevent future gout attacks and shrink uric acid crystal deposits.The treatment of an acute attack of gout often involves prescription medications that reduce inflammation with ongoing prescription medications to lower uric acid levels in the body.
Natural prevention of acute gout involves maintaining adequate fluid intake, weight reduction, dietary changes and reduction in alcohol consumption. Maintaining adequate fluid intake decreases the risk of kidney stone formation in patients with gout. Alcohol has diuretic effects that causes dehydration and triggers acute gout attacks. Alcohol also affects uric acid metabolism to cause uric acid levels to rise. Therefore, alcohol has two major effects that worsen gout by slowing down the excretion of uric acid from the kidneys and by causing dehydration.
Dietary changes help reduce uric acid levels in the blood. Since purine chemicals are converted by the body into uric acid, purine-rich foods are to be avoided. Examples of foods rich in purines include shellfish and organ meats such as liver, brains, kidneys, and sweetbreads. In general, meat or seafood consumption increases the risk of gout attacks, while dairy food consumption reduces the risk. Total alcohol intake is strongly associated with an increased risk of gout (beer and liquor were particularly strong factors). Fructose in soft drinks also increases the risk of gout.
Home remedies which alleviate the symptoms of acute gout include resting and elevating the inflamed joint. Ice-packs are helpful to reduce pain and decrease inflammation. Patients should avoid aspirin-containing medications,because aspirin prevents kidney excretion of uric acid.