Gout is a result of uric acid getting deposited in body tissue and manifests itself in attacks causing joint inflammation. When gout becomes chronic, hard lumps of uric acid around the joints and can effect kidney function. Nearly 1 million people in the U.S suffer from gout or gouty arthritis. The condition is much more common in men than in women.

Gout arthritis is most often found at the base of the big toe. Other common joints affected by gout include ankles, knees, wrists, fingers, and elbows. Symptoms will include acute pain, swelling, redness and tenderness. An attack of gout can be severely painful and last anywhere from hours to days.  The condition will usually relieve itself without medication, but will often recur chronically throughout one’s life.

Determining Gout from other arthritic conditions is best left to a physician. Depending on how and where you describe the pain a physician can tell if you are suffering from gout or another more serious condition such as lupus or rheumatoid arthritis. Gout usually appears in one joint at a time as opposed to these multiple joint attackers. Gout can also be diagnosed by analyzing joint fluid and testing the amount of uric acid crystals present. X-Rays are also helpful when diagnosing gout because they are able to spot bone damage and uric acid deposits.

Preventative measures can taken to reduce the acuteness and prevalency of gout attacks. Most are simple such as weight reduction, proper fluid intake, altering diet, reducing intake of alcoholic beverages and starting to take certain prescription medications.

The uses of medications to treat gout are threefold. The goals behind the regiment are to reduce pain, reduce inflammation, and keep the gout symptoms from progressing by reducing the levels of uric acid in the blood. Physicians have several options when prescribing medications to treat gout so sufferers should take advantage of a doctor’s expertise even if they are only noticing minor symptoms of gout.