Gout - Home Remedies, Symptoms, and Treatment

Definition

Gout is one of the most common forms of arthritis. It appears as an acute attack often coming on overnight. It is mostly found that within 12-24 hours there is severe pain and swelling in the affected joint. And also seen that skin over the joint may be red and shiny. Gout is characterized by an overload of uric acid in the body and recurring attacks of joint inflammation (arthritis). Gout accounts for approximately 5 percent of all cases of arthritis.

Causes

The cause of gout is an inflammation in your joint resulting from an accumulation of urate crystals. Uric acid is a waste product formed from the breakdown of purines. If you eat a lot of foods that are rich in purines, you may get gout. Some of these foods are salmon, sardines, liver and herring.

Gout is classified as either primary or secondary, depending on the cause of the associated hyperuricemia (high levels of uric acid in the blood). In both types of gout, between 70% and 95% of hyperuricemia cases are the result of under-excretion of uric acid, rather than uric acid over-production.

Symptoms

Gout normally occurs in attacks, which can develop rapidly over a few hours, and last for several days if left untreated. The attacks usually involve severe pain in one or more joints, most commonly in your big toe. The inflamed joint will become swollen, and your skin can become red and sore around the affected area.
Even without treatment, the first attacks stop spontaneously after 1-2 weeks. While the pain and swelling completely go away, gouty arthritis almost always returns in the same joint or in another joint.
Uric acid crystals can form outside joints. Collections of these crystals, known as tophi, can be found in the earlobe, elbow, and Achilles tendon (back of the ankle).

Treatment

Except for decreasing the amount of alcohol intake and cutting back on meats, there is little an individual can do to avoid a gout attack.

Maintaining adequate fluid intake helps prevent acute gout attacks. Adequate fluid intake also decreases the risk of kidney stone formation in patients with gout. Alcohol is known to have diuretic effects which can contribute to dehydration and precipitate acute gout attacks. Alcohol can also affect uric acid metabolism and cause hyperuricemia. It causes gout by impeding (slowing down) the excretion of uric acid from the kidneys as well as by causing dehydration, which precipitates the crystals in the joints.

Home remedies for Gout cure

1) Extract the juice of half lemon and pour it in 1 glass of water. Drink it three times in a day.
2) A diet of bananas only for three or four days is advised for providing some relief from gout. This is the best home remedy to cure gout.
3) Apply elm leaf tea to affected area for pain and inflammation.

Alien writes for Beauty advice. He also writes for women health care and check out home remedies for gout.

Article Source: http://www.wellnessarticlelibrary.com

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