The next day, he could hardly walk. We watched him hobble his way to the car and take deep painful breaths every time he got up and walked around. A bad case of gout, he said. He had an inflamed big right toe.
He hobbled around for the next few days, vowing loudly that he would never touch that particular chocolate-covered peanut bar again.
My buddy now keeps a list of risky foods he should not eat to prevent another bout of gout.
Gout occurs when you have too much uric acid in your body. It could be because your body makes too much uric acid, or have a hard time getting rid of uric acid. When too much uric acid builds up around your joints, uric acid crystals form and this causes your joints to swell up and become inflamed.
Gout usually strikes individuals who are from 30 to 50 years old, usually men.
Gout, according to CNMI Public Health Secretary Joseph Kevin Villagomez during last week’s 13th Micronesian Chief Executives Summit, is one of the non-communicable diseases in the United States-affiliated Pacific Islands that continue to grow at an alarming rate. The other diseases are cancer, diabetes, obesity, stroke, cardiovascular disease, arthritis, and depression.
Here are some useful information from the pamphlets created by Benjamin Curry and Steven Evans, pharmacy interns of the University of Hawaii at Hilo College of Pharmacy, and distributed all over the island.
Symptoms
An acute attack of gout often occurs late at night or early morning. You can experience an extremely painful joint, and the skin around the infected area may turn red or peel.
The individual who is suffering from a gout attack may also feel tired and feverish and the symptoms may last for a few days before your joint feels normal again.
Treatment
Gout can be treated by home remedies, such as putting a warm pad or ice pack on the affected joint to ease the pain. You must also avoid putting any weight on the joint, but talk to your doctor for medications and if you have any questions.
Prevention
The good news is you can prevent gout by avoiding the things that would trigger an attack. Here are some points to remember:
Avoid feeling stressed.
Keep a healthy immune system.
Maintain a healthy weight and avoid high protein diets.
Talk to your doctor or a pharmacist before taking medicines especially diuretics or antibiotics which may trigger a gout attack.
Avoid too much meat such as pork, beef or lamb.
Avoid foods that are high in purine as this will increase uric acid level.
Avoid alcohol; beer and wine are high in purines.
Drink plenty of fluids to prevent the build-up of uric acid.
Drink 8-10 glasses of water a day to help flush your urinary system and will help prevent kidney stones.
Snacking on cherries may help lower uric acid levels.
Risky foods
Anchovies, herring sardines
Mushrooms
Asparagus, peas and beans
Mussels
Kidney, liver, heart, brain, gravies, sweetbreads and broths.
Other risk factors
Sudden severe illness, crash diets, joint injury and chemotherapy.
