Why is gout dangerous?
Without adequate treatment, gout progresses rapidly, especially in mature and elderly patients. Without appropriate therapy, serious complications are possible.
Major complications
Gouty arthritis Uric acid, in the form of crystals (tophi) is deposited in all parts of the body. When such deposits become lodged in joints or periarticular tissues, severe inflammation occurs. This leads to severe pain and fever
Urolithiasis Crystals that occur with gout often form in the kidneys. They become the main cause of kidney failure and ultimately lead to the death of the patient.
With gout, kidney stones can form at all stages of the disease, excluding the first
In medicine, there are 3 phases of the disease:
- With latent symptoms, the symptoms are erased. Doctors determine the development of primary inflammation by urine analysis.
- In the acute stage, severe pain occurs.
- The chronic course is due to alternating exacerbations and short remissions.
The frequency of attacks varies from 2 times a month to once a year. Can my knees hurt with gout? The anomaly provokes thinning of the cartilage, the formation of punctures in nearby bones - voids filled with microcrystals of sodium urate, lumps under the skin. Nodular formations and bone growths lead to the development of acute sensations. If measures are not taken, inaction will lead to loss of ability to work.
Symptoms and treatment of gouty arthritis of the knee joint in women, other acute attacks are rare, fewer tophi occur - dense chalky granulosa lumps, punctures. They are usually bothered by aching pains, which can easily be confused with arthritic pain. The pathology is recognized visually by a rheumatologist or arthrologist by severe swelling.
Stages of the disease
Asymptomatic hyperuricemia As the name suggests, it occurs without symptoms. But at this time, uric acid accumulates in the body. This period ends with the first attacks of gout.
Acute gouty arthritis First attack of gout. It occurs due to a sharp jump in the level of uric acid in the patient’s body. As a rule, exacerbation occurs at night. The attack worsens over the course of a day and only goes away after a few days.
Intercritical period This is the time period between exacerbations of gouty arthritis. There is usually no pain during this period, but the joint continues to deteriorate. This period is considered the most suitable for effective treatment of gout.
Chronic gouty deposits in the joints Appear when there is a high level of uric acid in the blood, which persists for several years. At this time, gout attacks become stronger, and the intervals between them become shorter.
The progression of the disease leads to the fact that people eventually cannot move without the help of crutches or a wheelchair
Treatment of gouty arthritis
To treat gouty arthritis, complex techniques are used, the main task of which is to suppress the content of uric acid and accelerate its removal from the body. In addition to relieving inflammation, measures are taken to stimulate the excretory function of the kidneys.
For the treatment of gouty arthritis, the following are used:
- Surgical methods;
- Physiotherapy;
- Medication exposure;
- Diet.
Much depends on the stage of development of the pathology. Thus, in case of exacerbation, anti-inflammatory measures are relevant; hospitalization is most often required. During remission, efforts in the treatment of gouty arthritis are concentrated on preventing relapse and relieving associated symptoms, including low blood sugar, obesity, and atherosclerosis.
Surgery
Surgical methods for treating gouty arthritis are used mainly to remove large tophi located in the skin. In other cases, the tumors resolve on their own under the influence of special procedures and medications.
Physiotherapy
Physiotherapy gives good results in the treatment of gouty arthritis. It allows you to improve the condition of cartilage tissues and prevent their breakdown. Physiotherapy is prescribed between attacks; the following types are most actively used:
- Electrophoresis
is the effect of constant electrical impulses on the body. The essence of the procedure is to provide a local therapeutic effect. It also activates the penetration of external medications through the skin. As a rule, these are painkillers and analgesics, drugs containing sulfur, lithium and zinc compounds to stimulate cartilage tissue; - Mud therapy
– prescribed as part of sanatorium recovery; - Procedures with thermal effects in the form of paraffin and ozokerite applications
that promote the resorption of deposits formed from lactic acid; - Balneotherapy
- effects on joint joints while taking sodium chloride, hydrogen sulfide, radon baths; - Bishofite
- compresses with a natural solution consisting of sodium and iodine, calcium and copper, titanium and potassium. The procedure helps relieve inflammation and relieve pain in the affected area.
Magnetic therapy is actively used in the treatment of gouty arthritis.
, and this method is relevant at any stage of the disease. The magnetic field creates an analgesic and sedative effect, prevents the development of inflammation, and relieves swelling that limits mobility. This technique helps thin the blood and improve the general condition of the patient.
In acute gouty arthritis, the use of physiotherapeutic methods is limited, since any increase in temperature can activate inflammation. But such procedures can be performed after joint surgery in order to restore their functions.
Drug treatment
One of the most effective methods of treating gouty arthritis is drug therapy.
. At the first stage, medications are prescribed to relieve pain and swelling, most often these are non-steroidal drugs for inflammation.
At the next stage of treatment of gouty arthritis, drugs are selected in such a way as to ensure a decrease in the level of uric acid in the blood. These are uricodepressive drugs that can be used for quite a long time. But for acute gouty arthritis, such drugs are not prescribed.
An important role in the treatment of gouty arthritis is given to a group of drugs called chondroprotectors.
. These are slow-acting medications that prevent the destruction of cartilage and ensure the preservation of its integrity. The effect of chondoprotectors is to expand motor activity and reduce pain.
In addition, the use of chondroprotectors can reduce the need for therapy with non-steroidal drugs, which have a number of side effects, including negative effects on the stomach. This is especially dangerous for elderly patients.
An example of an effective drug for the treatment of gouty arthritis is Artradol.
The action of the drug is to suppress the activity of enzymes that provoke cartilage degradation, as well as to activate the production of proteoglycans. At the same time, the medicine enhances metabolic processes in cartilage and bones and has a beneficial effect on calcium-phosphorus metabolism in cartilage tissue.
Artradol
relieves inflammation and pain, helps restore the cartilaginous articular surface, therefore it is actively used in the treatment of gouty arthritis. The drug normalizes the production of joint fluid, which improves joint mobility.
Treatment methods for gout
Doctors at the DaliMed clinic have developed unique methods to relieve patients from this serious illness. An acute gouty attack resolves within three visits. After this, the main treatment occurs.
After completing the full course and restoring normal uric acid levels, the patient can even allow himself to deviate somewhat from the prescribed diet.
A course of treatment
Diet for the period of treatment: Avoid consumption of fatty animal products, offal (canned food, sausages), carbonated drinks, and alcohol.
It is necessary to consume enough water and plant products.
Drug therapy for gout is aimed at reducing the level of uric acid in the patient’s body, stopping the acute inflammatory process and relieving pain.
Treatment methods are selected individually
- Innovative drugs aimed at reducing uric acid in the patient's blood.
- Medicines developed in Europe that promote the resorption of crystals in the body (tophi).
- Specialized medications that relieve inflammation and restore tissue.
- Laser therapy.
- Ozone therapy.
- Reflexology.
- Physical activity prescribed by the doctor.
Signs of gout of the knee joint
The first painful attacks are short-term. Sudden attacks often occur at night. The affected joint swells, the skin acquires a purplish hue. One of the main signs is a local increase in temperature up to 40 degrees and inflammation of the thumb. The slightest touch to the inflamed area causes unbearable pain. After a few days, the pain disappears without a trace.
Over the course of 1-8 months, everything repeats itself: pain in the knees due to gout increases, attacks last longer, and the time between them decreases. Their occurrence is often caused by the consumption of fatty foods and alcoholic beverages. In the absence of therapeutic and diagnostic measures, the symptoms of knee gout progress. There comes a time when they take on a chronic form and affect small joints.
Advice from a doctor
- Do not put stress on the sore joint. It is necessary to periodically fix it in an elevated position and apply ice for 15-30 minutes 2-3 times a day until the pain subsides.
- Eliminate aspirin. It can cause spikes in uric acid levels in the blood and worsen attacks.
- Regularly measure your uric acid level - it should not exceed 60 mg/l.
- Do exercises. Dedicate at least half an hour to physical education every day.
- Drink at least two liters of clean water per day.
- Get a blood test to determine your levels of essential minerals and vitamins.
- If necessary, supplement your diet with a good vitamin and mineral complex . It is especially important for gout patients to provide themselves with vitamin C.
- Avoid carbonated drinks and juice powders containing fructose.
- Avoid alcohol.
- Review your diet in favor of vegetables, fruits and cereals.
- Consume no more than 120 grams of animal protein per day , avoid offal and fatty sausages.
After our course of treatment, the pain will go away, your former mobility will return, and if you follow the doctor’s recommendations, you can forget about gout forever.
Causes
Louis XIV, Dickens, Turgenev, Renoir, Beethoven, Cromwell, Caesar, Macedonian and many other famous writers, scientists, and composers suffered from gouty arthritis, “the disease of kings and geniuses.” In 1927, G. Ellis even wrote a book where he tried to explain genius by the presence of gouty joint damage. Indeed, there is some kind of relationship. With gout, the level of bioactive compounds similar in action to theobromine, a powerful stimulator of cerebral circulation, increases in the systemic circulation.
In the Middle Ages, representatives of high classes - aristocrats, merchants, landowners - more often suffered from this pathology. Every day they consumed large amounts of fatty foods, washed down with alcoholic beverages of various strengths. Along with the products, many purine compounds came in - sources of the formation of uric acid, and then its salts. This compound is synthesized in the body itself as a result of biochemical reactions between nucleotides. In a person leading a healthy lifestyle, the processes of uric acid synthesis are balanced. The body receives as many purine bases as necessary for full metabolism, and the excess is quickly eliminated. But under the influence of negative factors, this balance is disrupted, and the processes of crystallization of harmful salts in the knees are accelerated. The causes of hyperuricemia are:
- increased consumption of foods containing purine bases;
- increased biosynthesis of purines in the body;
- intensification of the processes of decomposition of nucleoside phosphates;
- a combination of these factors.
The deposition of uric acid crystals in the knee joints can be provoked by taking cyclosporines, diuretics, acetylsalicylic acid, and some antibiotics. Excess weight, diabetes mellitus, intoxication with lead compounds, and coronary heart disease predispose to the development of gouty arthritis.
Excess weight provokes the development of gout.
There have been cases of disturbances in the biosynthesis of uric acid after organ transplantation, administration of contrast agents, surgical interventions, and injuries. Joint pathology sometimes occurs against the background of metabolic syndrome, chronic renal failure, and psoriasis.