Gout - When uric acid crystals affect the joints

The metabolic disease gout, in which uric acid crystals deposit in the joints and thus trigger a painful acute attack of gout, is closely related to the diet. Food and drinks have a direct influence on the formation of uric acid. A change in diet can therefore make an important contribution to the successful treatment of gout.

Gout is one of the "most common diet-related diseases" in adults, reports the German Society for Nutrition (DGE). About ten to 30 percent of men and up to six percent of women would have elevated levels of uric acid in the blood and about ten percent of them would suffer gout in their lifetime. The increased uric acid concentration may remain undetected for years before the first acute attack of gout occurs.

Nutrition with significant influence on the course of the disease
In the case of gout, there is a disturbance of the purine metabolism, which causes most of the patients to be genetically predisposed. The impairment of the purine-uric acid metabolism is based in the further course, according to the German Rheumatism League either on a high uric acid formation or insufficient excretion of uric acid via the kidneys. In the end, in any case, too much uric acid remains in the organism, causing the level of uric acid in the blood to rise (hyperuricaemia) and the deposition of uric acid crystals at various points. Not infrequently, the first symptoms after a particularly rich food (with a lot of meat and / or fish), massive consumption of alcohol, an infectious disease or unusually heavy physical stress, because subsequently increased uric acid accumulates in the body. Similarly, excessive consumption of soft drinks is associated with increased uric acid production. If no treatment is given, the affected person is at worst threatened with damage to the kidneys, which can even lead to kidney failure.

Therapy usually includes a change in diet
A permanent change in diet forms the basis for long-term successful treatment of gout, "as the emergence and the course can be significantly influenced by diet and lifestyle habits," explains the DGE. Consistently conducted nutritional therapy saved medicines and sometimes drug treatment could become completely superfluous. In addition to the low-purine diet with plenty of cereal products, potatoes, selected vegetables, salad and fresh fruit as well as low-fat milk, dairy products, eggs in moderation and sufficient liquid but low alcohol and especially little beer, the aim is to reduce existing overweight. In the brochure "Eating and drinking in case of gout", the DGE has pointed out the measures with which "an increased uric acid concentration in the blood can be lowered and thus a disease can be prevented."

Medication for gout treatment
Can not be normalized on the basis of diet change normalization of uric acid level. can be used drugs that either inhibit the formation of uric acid or promote their excretion. Here, the German Rheumatism League mentions benzbromarone as an active ingredient that enhances uric acid excretion by the kidneys and allopurinol, as an active ingredient to reduce uric acid formation in the body. For the treatment of acute gout attacks, so-called non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) are often used because of their anti-inflammatory and pain-relieving effect. In addition, cortisone can be used for the treatment of acute gout attack.

Medicinal plants and other treatment alternatives
In the treatment of gout, natural medicine also relies on "various other methods, whereby especially herbal medicine, homeopathy and hydrotherapy are said to have promising effects". In addition to stinging nettles and dandelions, juniper, birch leaves, goldenrod and field horsetail - mostly in the form of herbal tea mixtures, but also pure or processed to special tinctures - are used as medicinal plants. (Fp)