Symptoms

Gout is a type of arthritis and is characterized by the sudden and sever attacks of burning pain, as well as a stiffness and redness in the joint. This involves one or more joints and most of the time is the big toe, knee, and ankle joints. This occurs often at night starting with a sudden excruciating pain, the join turns red, warm and tender that even a simple touch by a sheet hurts. Gout may go away immediately or last days, and it may return from time to time.
This type of arthritis is more common in men than women which become more susceptible to gout after the menopause.

Diabetic, obese, anemic, and people with leukemia and kidney disease have a greater chance of having gout among other people.

Gouty Arthritis is treatable and the risks of it coming back are reduced.

What causes it?

Gout is caused by the increase of uric acid in blood that led to your gout attack can still damage your joints. Uric acids are produced when our bodies break down purines, substance naturally found in our bodies, certain foods.

Normally the acid uric are dissolved in our blood and expelled out of the body through the kidneys into the urine, but sometimes we produce excessive uric acid or kidneys do not expulses enough out of the body.

Diagnosis:

To help diagnose the following test may be done:
• Uric acid- blood
• Synovial fluid analysis (shows uric acid crystals)
• Joint X- rays
• Synovial biopsy
• Uric acid- urine

Be informed that not everyone with high uric acid levels in the blood has gout.