I’m sure you’ve all heard of gout but how many of you can tell me what exactly it is? Comment before you read on if you think you know.
For those like me who didn’t know straight off the bat, gout is an inflammatory disorder of the joints very similar to but not the same as, rheumatoid arthritis. One of the main causes of gout is obesity which has led to its rise with the obesity epidemic. It was a condition which you’d expect to get as you got older but it hasn’t been common for a very long time. It’s caused when uric acid builds up in the body, either because the body can’t flush it out as easily or because it’s producing too much. This acid forms crystals which build up in the joints and cause inflammation and massive amounts of pain and discomfort.
Rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune condition which is caused when the body attacks its own joints, it too leads to inflammation of the joints, pain and loss of mobility but its causes are a lot less clear. One of the few advantages of rheumatoid arthritis was that it was believed that you couldn’t get gout as well. It’s now become evident that sufferers of rheumatoid arthritis are just as susceptible to gout as anyone else, their symptoms are just hidden by their arthritis.
Both of these conditions are made much worse by being overweight. Essentially this is because you’re putting much more strain on joints which are already inflamed. This strain eventually breaks down the cushioning between joints, called cartilage. Without cartilage symptoms of both rheumatoid arthritis and gout can get a lot worse.
Once again, the moral of the story is to keep your weight under control. If you’re never obese then you stand much less chance of contracting both conditions, specifically gout, in the first place. The best way of treating something is by never getting it in the first place!
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