Health: Gout

Gout  condition is more prevalent in males than than females and there is a familial tendency.

It is caused by the deposition of sodium urate crystal in joints and tendons, provoking and acute inflammatory response. Risk factors include obesity, heredity, hyperuricaemia and high alcohol consumption. Gout is in two forms, primary and secondary.

Primary four, the most commonest form, occurs almost always in men and is associated with reduced ability to excrete urate or increased urate production.

Secondary gout occurs usually as a consequence of diuretic treatment or kidney failure, both of which reduce urate excretion.

In many cases only one joint is involved which is monoarthritis and it is typically red, not and very painful. The most commonly sites it affect are the metatarsophalangeal joint of the big toe and the ankle, knee, wrist and elbow joints.

Episodes of arthritis lasting days or weeks are interspersed with periods of remission.
After repeated acute attacks, permanent damage may occuroccur with chronic deformity and loss of function of the affected joints.

Gout is sometimes complicated by the development of renal calculi