A common cause of gout is the accumulation of a chemical called uric acid. Uric acid is a normal breakdown product of another chemical called purines. The treatment involves controlling the inflammation, which causes the pain and swelling and ultimately damage to joints. Also, lowering the uric acid level is a logical means to controlling gout.
Most of the time the symptom can be controlled by anti-inflammatory medications like naproxen or indomethacin. In severe cases steroids like prednisone may be needed. Some people even need injections into the joints. Fluid from the swollen joints can be removed and analyzed for the uric acid crystals.
The treatment includes medicines like allopurinol, which decrease the level of uric acid, or there are other medicines like colchicine, which decrease inflammation. Also there are medicines called uricosuric agents that increase the removal of uric acid in urine. Colchicine works best if taken really early in the attack and sometimes repeat does may need to be taken periodically such as every two hours or so till there is pain relief or a maximum dose is reached or there are side effects like gastrointestinal upset.
The specific dose and the manner of taking these medicines are best discussed with your healthcare provider.
Common side effects of these drugs include stomach upset and ulcers from prednisone and ibuprofen type of medications, diarrhea from colchicine and sometimes gout can get worse from allopurinol especially if the person is not on colchicine first during an acute attack.
Gout provides detailed information about gout, foods that cause gout, and more. Gout is affiliated with http://searchwarp.com/swa31480.htm
For years the only palliative for gout was a drug called colchicine, which was used even by the ancient Egyptians. They extracted it from the saffron plant, or autumn crocus. The trouble with colchicine is that while it alleviates acute attacks, it also can produce unpleasant side effects. Modem treatment for gout consists of getting at the root—the uric acid surplus in the blood. Normal people have a concentration of 6 to 65 milligram percent; gout victims - have from 9 to 12 milligram percent or more. Uric acid crystals tend to deposit in various joints and the kidneys if not properly treated. Such deposits are 'tailed tophi. Tophi formed at the joints can be very unsightly and crippling.
Uric acid deposits in the kidneys sometimes may lead to kidney insufficiency. In 1950 the Gout Clinic, using a drug called probenecid, which helps gout victims by drawing uric acid out through their kidneys, found that tophi could actually be made to disappear a major breakthrough in treatment In 1962 another drug, allopurinol, was developed, which actually prevents the formation of uric acid. Gout Clinic patients today are given whichever drug fits their particular case best, and they're usually permitted to eat and drink pretty much as they please. They do have to undergo periodic checkups of their uric acid levels, so that diet and pill dosage may be properly regulated. Dr. Yu points out that women seldom get gout about 95 percent of sufferers are men. She also notes that people with gout are believed by some to have above average intelligence. "How does Women's Lib feel about that?" she asks J Smith a smile.
Gout-is a hereditary" disease, with offspring of gouty patients far more likely than others to develop a high uric acid concentration. She says that about 100 of her patients bring their children in for preventive checkups. Hopefully research will be able to develop treatments which will prevent such offspring from developing the actual disease;. The generations pass "Some of these youngsters started at age 12, and they're still coming at age 30," she says. "I have to laugh at myself sometimes. When I was young I saw only old fellows. Now when much older, I see them young." Dr. Yu, a graduate of Peking Union Medical. College, began studying medicine largely at the instigation of her father. "In those days in China, boys were preferred to girls," she says. "But I had a good father—he didn't see why boys should be better treated. We were two girls and three boys. The others were all smarter than me, so I worked harder to compensate." Wherfshe first met Dr. Gutman, who then was at Columbia University,
Dr. Yu remembers he was "totally unprepared to receive a Chinese girl to work with him." "He gave me two reprints that he'd written," she says, "and said 'Read these articles—I don't know whether you'll understand them or not.' I felt insulted. I read his articles, which were written in a beautiful literary style. But he was right: I didn't understand them. But I didn't want to admit it. So I spent a whole week looking up references and going over the articles. Finally I went in and told him: 'Everything you wrote I understand.' I stayed three and a half years with him at Columbia, and then when he was appointed medical chief at Mount Sinai ,he took me with him. It was he who urged me to stay in gout research." World's largest Over the years the Gout Clinic launched by Dr. Gutman with the help of Dr. Yu has had 1700 patients, making it by far the largest "clinic of its kind in the world. Scientists from other countries come to study and work there and then take back the most modem treatment methods to their own lands. Gout patients who used to hobble in with canes and crutches now arrive briskly and cheerfully for the tests and treatments that enable them to lead active, pain-free lives. Their new-fourtd happiness is reflected in the quiet satisfaction of Dr. Yu, whose "three months of graduate work" has turned into a quarter of a century of service to humanity.
From Lincoln Star (1950)
This article was in the Oakland Tribune dated September 15 1974 by Herbert Kupferberg.
What do Alexander the Great, Charlemagne, John Milton, Isaac Newton, Benjamin Franklin, Theodore Roosevelt and Hank Greenberg all have in common? The answer—in one word—is gout, a crippling disease which everybody laughs at except people who suffer from it.The approximately one million gout victims in the U.S. don't see anything funny in their affliction. Seizures, which often come upon them in the middle of the night, cause excruciating pain, generally centered in the region of the big toe. "I feel," said the gout-ridden British essayist Sydney Smith, "as if I am walking on my eyeballs." Gout has been known to man ever since the ancient Egyptians. The Greeks even had a word for it. Hippocrates, their great physician, called it "podagra," from the Greek words pous (foot) and agra (attack).
After suffering from gout for centuries, the human race at last is doing something about it. More progress has been made in its treatment and control during the last 25 years than in the previous 3000. In fact, some of the knowledge gleaned from the study of gout is now being applied to research in such other medical problems as arthritis, diabetes and heart disease. Pain-free lives Treatment of gout itself has reached the point where patients can lead normal, pain-free lives with only minimal restrictions on their eating and drinking habits. The old "gout stool," on which sufferers used to rest their throbbing, bandaged foot, is rapidly passing into obsolescence.
What are the newest and best gout medications? Below is a list of drugs that have/are used to treat gout. Obviously check with your doctor, GP, healthcare professional for taking any drugs.
Visit http://www.drugs.com/ to check their individual side-effects.
Comment:
There are many gout websites on the web but yours is great piece of work. My gout affects more than one joint at a time, and it can be very painful. So-called gout diets don’t really cut-it with me – it’s gout medication. My whole family have been very supportive, this helps you get through the worst moments. Earlier, a significant attack ended - with much relief! Facts are useful for us gout sufferers. Nice wesbite, good information and well laid out - well done! Dave Hill, USADramatic gout relief. [Pain Relief]
For the sufferer, there are many numerous choices for treatment of gout. Typical drug-therapy options include:
However, as gout is caused by uric-acid crystal formation around bodily joints, and uric acid is formed by purine metabolism, dietary therapy may be an alternative to or complement convention drugs for gout. Foods high in purines include:
In fact, for severe sufferers, the best treatment for gout is perhaps a combination drug therapy and dietary modification. This will reduce purines and while tackling pain, swelling and inflammation.
Traditional drugs therapies may help if all else fails.
You have provided interesting and diverse gout information on you site; well done!I tried numerous remedies but ended controlling gout my via medication (colchicine) and diet. I still have attacks but they are very minor.
Good luck with your site.
Mr K. Wilts
'Coping with Gout' provides an excellent explanation of alternative treatments for gout...
Complementary medicine has been described as all the therapies not taught in medical school. It includes such techniques as acupuncture, homeopathy and reflexology. You may know these as `alternative therapies' -- but this term can be misleading. The word alternative suggests that the therapy can be used to replace conventional medicine. Unfortunately, in treating gout this is rarely the case.
Complementary therapies are suitable for treating disease for the following reasons:
People who use complementary therapies do report substantial benefits, although some of these may derive from simply knowing that they are doing something positive to help them-selves. Different therapies appear to suit different people.
Acupressure: Acupressure is an ancient form of oriental healing, combining acupuncture and massage. Practitioners of this technique use the thumb, fingertip or the palm of the hand to firmly massage certain pressure points located at specific sites throughout the body. These points are the same as those used in acupuncture (see below). Neither oils nor equipment are used in this type of therapy. Acupressure is believed to enhance the body's own healing mechanisms. Pain relief is sometimes rapid. However, improve¬ments can take longer in chronic conditions. At some hospitals in the UK, acupressure is available as part of the physiotherapy treatment options.
Acupuncture: Also an ancient form of oriental healing, acupuncture involves puncturing the skin with fine needles at specific points in the body. These points are located along energy channels (meridians) that are believed to correspond to certain internal organs. The energy itself is known as chi. Needles are inserted to increase, decrease or unblock the flow of chi energy so that the balance of yin and yang is restored. Yin, the female force, is calm and passive; it also represents dark, cold, swelling and moisture. On the other hand, yang, the male force, is stimulating and aggressive, representing heat, light, contraction and dryness. It is thought that an imbalance in these forces is the cause of illness and disease. For example, a person who feels the cold, and suffers fluid retention and fatigue, would be considered to have an excess of yin. A person suffering from headaches, however, will be deemed to have an excess of yang.
Emotional, physical or environmental factors are believed to disturb the chi energy balance, and can also be treated. For example, acupuncture has been used to alleviate stress, digestive disorders, insomnia, asthma and allergies. Studies have shown that treatment promotes the brain to release endorphins and encephalins (natural painkillers), boost the immune system and calm the nervous system. It can be seen, then, that acupuncture has many applications.
A qualified acupuncturist will use a set method to determine acupuncture points — it is thought that there are as many as 2,000 such points on the body. At a consultation, questions may be asked about lifestyle, sleeping patterns, fears, phobias and reactions to stress. The pulses will be felt, then the acupuncture itself carried out, fine needles being placed in the relevant sites. The first consultation will normally last an hour, and patients should feel improvements after four to six sessions.
In treating gout, this traditional Chinese medicine advocates that an overrich diet causes a build-up of damp and heat internally, causing phlegm to stagnate and bringing about disturbance of the spleen and kidneys. Treatment, therefore, involves placing fine needles in the spleen and stomach acupuncture points. Other local points are used according to the joint affected by gout.
In one important study in China,' 54 sufferers of arthritic disease were given a form of acupuncture (warm needling in this case) in which the needles are dipped in Zhuifengsu, a Chinese herb. As a consequence, every sufferer reported a decrease in their pain. In another study, in Russia, into auriculo-electropunc¬ture (AEP)' – treatment of acupuncture points on the ear -- all 16 arthritis sufferers felt better after treatment, showing `statisti¬cally significant' improvement in their blood samples. The results of these studies are believed to apply to all types of arthritis, including gout.
Acupuncture is now losing its unorthodox reputation, and has made much headway in the west. In recent years it has gained so much respect in the medical field that many doctors now perform the therapy.
Bioelectmmagnetics: Bioelectromagnetics is the study of how living organisms – all of which produce electrical currents – interact with magnetic fields. The electrical currents within our bodies are capable of creating magnetic fields that extend outside our bodies, and these fields can be influenced by external magnetic forces. In fact, specific external magnetism can actually produce physical and behav¬ioural changes. Just as drugs induce a response in their target tissues, so low magnetic fields can produce a chosen biological response – but without the chemical side effects associated with drugs.
External magnetism cannot only correct abnormalities in the energy fields of patients with disease, effectively working as a healer, it is also capable of stabilizing a chronic condition – although certainly not in every case. As a pain reliever, external magnetism is becoming ever more widely used, and much experimentation is currently under way. Electromagnetic appara¬tus is even becoming a regular fixture of NHS treatment rooms. This apparatus creates a pulsed magnetic field, which is used to aid the recovery of bone fractures, tendon and ligament tears and muscle injuries, for example. A small, light, comparatively inexpensive version can be purchased for easy-to-wear home use. External magnetism should not be used by anyone fitted with a heart pacemaker.
External magnetism in the form of a specially designed wrist appliance – worn like a wristwatch – is also believed to be effective in treating aches, pains and injuries in any region of the body. As with other types of external magnetism, this appliance is said to improve the ability of the blood to carry oxygen and nutrients around the body. It is also believed to speed the removal of toxins and other waste products. Various appliances are available for use on different parts of the body (see the Useful Addresses section for outlet details).
Other treatments include hydrotherapy, hypnotherapy, relaxation and meditation. For a more detailed list see Coping with Gout by Chris Hinton.
Cure your gout naturally... [Read More]For over 2000 years, an extract from the root of the autumn crocus, called Colchicum autumnale, has been used to treat gout. Since 1820, the active ingredient from this root, col¬chicine, has been extracted. It is available in tiny tablets con¬taining either 0.5 or 0.6 mg of the pure substance.
Colchicine is rapidly absorbed from the stomach and intestines and distributed throughout the body, remaining in many tissues for a prolonged period. It has been shown to per¬sist in cells as long as 10 days after the last dose was taken. The body eliminates colchicine in the bile, in the intestinal secre¬tions and about 20 per cent in the urine. It acts by interfering with the ingestion of foreign material, such as crystals, by the polymorphonuclear leucocytes (polymorphs) which are the chief inflammatory cells in the body. It also blocks the release of factors produced by these polymorphs which call up further inflammatory cells as a response to crystal formation. It also suppresses the generation of inflammatory substances at the site of any interaction and reduces the risk of an acute attack of gout because this limits the risk of inflammation developing as a response to urate crystal formation.
The principal serious side-effects with colchicine are dia¬rrhoea together with nausea and vomiting. The dose which produces these effects is very close to the dose needed to pro-duce the beneficial response, and both these doses are different in every patient. Thus, the dose for treatment of an acute attack needs to be individualised. This is achieved by giving a dose of 2 tablets initially (1 mg) followed by 0.5 mg each second hour until either the acute gout subsides or the patient develops dia¬rrhoea, vomiting or abdominal discomfort. When any of these happen, no further colchicine should be taken. Acute gout will then usually subside in 80 per cent of patients within 24 hours of development of diarrhoea. The total dose of colchicine need¬ed may vary up to 14 tablets (7 mg) and occasionally higher than this if the patient is large. Some patients need considerably less than this and the method of administering it each 2 hours enables it to be stopped when the side-effects occur.
The amount of colchicine which each individual patient needs to treat acute gout is usually fairly constant from one attack to the next so that if a patient finds that 10 tablets (5 mg) is effective on one occasion, a dose of 9 tablets (4.5 mg) can be taken on the next occasion (again, in divided doses) and this may cause the acute attack of gout to subside without gas¬trointestinal side-effects.
The dose should be reduced in patients with either kidney or liver disease, in the elderly, or in those who have been receiving it on a regular basis prior to the acute attack. Overdosage is very dangerous, destroying a wide variety of cells in the body and leading to failure of many organs, and is always a life-threatening condition which may be irreversible.
No doubt it seems strange that a drug with this potential for serious side-effects is still used. However, almost all beneficial medications also have associated risks and, if used as recom¬mended, the risk/benefit ratio of colchicine is favourable.
In some countries, colchicine is available in a preparation for intravenous use. Administration in this way does not cause any diarrhoea, vomiting, or other gastrointestinal side-effects. However, the potential for general toxicity—poisoning—4s greatly increased, so there are clear recommendations for its use that must be followed. Intravenous colchicine cannot be self-administered. The drug is not available in intravenous form for use in either Australia or the United Kingdom, although it is often used in the USA.
Get Rid of Your Gout available from Amazon by Bryan Emmerson
Read about a successful gout cure... [Gout Cure Success]Here's the experiences and thoughts of a doctor specializing in gout over one hundreds years ago - how times have changed!
Have we a remedy or remedies essentially Homoeopathic to the gouty attack ?To this I think an affirmative answer can now be given. I propose to show that Urtica wrens, the common stinging nettle, is such a one, and I think Natrurn, mutriaticum has strong claims to be so considered. also. But Nat. mur. is a classic remedy in homoeopathy it is well known and much used by such as have gripped the true in¬wardness of homoeopathic - drug-action.
As I will presently relate, I have used Urtica-urens a good deal for some years in ague and spleen affections, and thus it comes to pass that I have had ample opportunities of becoming intimately acquainted with its powers. Patients under the influence of small material doses of Urtica will often pass quantities of gravel.. The first occasion of my observing this in a striking manner was in a middle-aged maiden lady, who came over from Germany to place herself under my care, who smelled so strongly of nettles that it nauseated me when-ever it was my duty to examine her. She had, amongst many ailings, an enlarged spleen, and for this splenic enlargement I gave the mother tincture of Urtica urens. I was led to use it from the burning pains as well as the odour.
This lady passed a very large quantity of gravel by the urine while under its influence. I did not attach very much importance to this, as patient was in the habit of passing consider-able quantities of gravel with her motions, localised abdominal pain generally preceding such an occur¬rence by a number of days. She was in the habit of indicating a spot just under her spleen as her "gravel-pit.".
But when I observed others who, being under the influ¬ence of Urtica urens, passed grit and gravel pretty freely for the first time in their lives, I came to the conclusion that the Urtica possesses the power of eliminating the urates from the economy.;--- And it slowly became clear to my-mind that Urtica might be the very remedy I had long been in quest of, viz., a quickly-acting, easily-obtained homoeo¬pathic remedy for the Attacks of gout, or some of them, for of course we, of experience, never expect uni¬form results any more than we ex¬pect all the trees in a forest to be of the same height.
I subsequently be-came aware that Urtica wens is contingently capable of producing fever, as some subsequent experi¬ence will show. The fever of the gouty attack is not great, bul still feverishness is a part of such at-tacks, and I should not feel sure of of the homoeopathicity of a remedy thereto did it not possess the symp¬tom "fever" in its pathogenesis. I then proceded to employ the Utica urens in the classic attacks of genuine gouty, and that with very great satisfaction indeed. Within a few 'hours after beginning its use the urine becomes fairly free, of a high colour, and the bottom of the vessel is often found more or less covered with orates in the form of grit and gravel, and simul¬taneously herewith the gouty attack begins to subside.* I call the dis¬covery, of this gravel-expelling power of Urtica - well, it has been great to me in my clinical work, and my patients are generally benefit.
From J.Compton Burnett M.D. Gout and its Cure
