Gout: Symptoms, Diagnosis & Treatments
Symptoms Gout is a crystal-related arthropathy caused by the accumulation of monosodium urate (MSU) crystals in joints and soft tissues. Uric acid is the last metabolite of purine. When plasma urate saturation exceeds 7.0 mg / dL, it is called hyperuricemia and MSU occurs from this point. It is most common in adult men and is associated with age, BSA, weight, creatinine, alcohol, and hypertension. Gouty arthritis progresses to four stages of asymptomatic hyperuricemia, acute gouty arthritis, intercritical gout, and chronic tophaceous gout. First, asymptomatic hyperuricemia shows hyperuricemia but not arthritis, tophi, and nephrolithiasis. In acute gouty arthritis, severe pain, redness, warmth, swelling, and disability occur. Peaks appear in 12 to 24 hours, and all symptoms disappear within a few days to a few weeks. Acute gout attacks occur frequently during the night or early morning, resulting in pain that often causes them to wake up. In addition, 80% of the initial attack occurs o...