Interesting facts you didn't know about gout

The word "gout" comes from the Latin word "gutta", which means "drop"; (liquids).  In the Oxford English Dictionary, the term "gout" is comes from the doctrine of the basic fluids of the human body and is explained as "drip of pathological substances"; from the blood to the joints and into the space around them. The disease gout is a very interesting and surprising pathology.

Its development often begins with the fact that one morning a person wakes up, tries to get out of bed, but sits back with groans, as severe pain in the leg prevents him from doing this. Want to know more interesting information about gout – read more on estet-portal.com.

What is gout and why does it occur 

Gout – it is a chronic pathology, & nbsp; associated with a metabolic disorder, namely a disorder of purine metabolism, & nbsp; characterized by an increase in the level of uric acid in human blood, which is called hyperuricemia, as well as the deposition of  urates - crystals of its sodium salt in the tissues of the body.  This disease is manifested by recurrent acute inflammation of the joints and the formation of tophi - specific gouty  knots on the joints.

Gout disease is diagnosed quite often, and is one of the most common metabolic disorders.

A lot of research has already been done on this disease, but some questions still remain a mystery to medicine.

Gout disease:

• background: why gout – disease of geniuses;
• Epidemiology of the issue: when and who develops gout;
• risk factors for developing gout disease.

Background: why gout – disease of geniuses

Gout is one of the oldest diseases that are described in the history of medicine. Back in the 5th century BC, acute pain in the foot was called gout by the famous "father of medicine"; - Hippocrates. Gout has been called "the lord's disease", "the disease of kings and the king of diseases", "the disease of the aristocrats", and some even considered it a sign of genius. To explain this is quite simple: the body of an ordinary person contains about one gram of uric acid, while a gifted person has — not less than 20–30 grams.

Therefore, some scientists believe that a patient with gout may indeed have signs of genius!  Famous people such as Leonardo da Vinci, Isaac Newton, Alexander the Great, Charles Darwin and many others suffered from gout disease.

Epidemiology of the issue: when and who develops gout

Researchers have been studying the epidemiology of gout for many years, and here is what science knows today:

The prevalence of gout in Europe is  up to 2% in the adult population, and about 6% among people over 50;
in Ukraine, the prevalence of gout is 400 per 100,000 of the adult population, its prevalence is currently increasing; 
highest risk  development of gout disease - & nbsp; at 40-50 years old for men, 60 years and older for women;
men are much more likely to suffer from gout (ratio m : f from   7:1 to 19:1); 
Acute gout attacks rarely occur in adolescents and young adults;

women rarely become ill before menopause, due to the effect of estrogen on uric acid excretion.

Some studies show that gout is more common in the spring. This may be due to seasonal changes in diet, changes in temperature, alcohol consumption, and increased physical activity.

Risk factors for developing gout disease

Since gout is the result of an increase in uric acid levels, all contributing factors predispose to the development of the disease.

The main risk factors for developing gout disease are:

males are more likely to get sick;
gout develops more often in old age;
predispose to the development of gout predispose to the use of meat, alcohol, and especially wine and beer, since it is & nbsp; they contain molybdenum, which converts xanthine to hypoxanthine - the direct precursor of uric acid); & nbsp;
changes in the pH level of the blood and joint fluid;
excessive physical activity, including static – in tight shoes;
hypothermia.

In order to avoid the development of gout disease, patients need to exclude risk factors.

Research in the field of treatment and diagnosis of gout continues at the present time, since it is not known for certain how much more this interesting pathology is fraught with.