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Are Drug Companies Destroying The U.S. Health Care System?
The U.S. government's annual bill for healthcare spending – $3,925 per person – significantly exceeds that of all other nations. Despite this, our current health care system is increasingly failing both patients and medical practitioners. Of 13...
"Modern" diets and supplements.
For the majority of people who don't raise their own foods, diets can be deficient in vitamins and minerals. In fact, it was the study of diet deficiencies in the USA and other countries that led to the creation of vitamin and mineral ...
Not Now, I Have A Headache
Copyright 2005 by Doug Smith Home Remedies - Facts or Quacks? That’s what I recently asked myself. Myths and legends often have their basis in a grain of truth. So I wondered if home remedies, alternative treatments, and folklore cures might also...
Recovering From Stroke with Acupuncture
Q: I had a stroke 7 years ago. It was due to a blood clot in the brain. I am making a good recovery, but I am curious to know if acupuncture would benefit me. Tim A: Tim, the best time to get acupuncture for stroke is immediately afterwards -...
We're natural mind readers
EMPATHY allows us to feel the emotions of others, to identify and understand their feelings and motives and see things from their perspective. How we generate empathy remains a subject of intense debate in cognitive science. Some scientists now...
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Gout: A Foe for your Toe
Gout: A Foe for your Toe
Gout is a misunderstood malady. Despite the intense pain that gout can bring, it is a condition that is rarely makes the glossy pages of a magazine. If you are ever personally hit with the sudden onset of gout, classically (50% of the time) seen as a sudden and excruciating pain in the big toe, you will have a newly found interest in the following information.
Gout is caused by elevated levels of uric acid in the fluids of your body. These uric acid crystals deposit in joints, tendons and kidneys, damaging the tissues and causing inflammation and pain. The pain is a result of countless needle-like crystals that form from the excess uric acid.
There are two main types of gout, primary and secondary. Most (90%) of gout sufferers fall into the ‘primary’ category. This is a pattern with a cause that is generally unknown (idiopathic), although there are some genetic patterns that can lead one to tend toward elevated uric acid. Secondary gout is identified when uric acid is elevated in response to some other disorder (such as kidney disease).
Some medicines (such as aspirin and diuretics) can lead to the onset of gout attacks because they decrease the excretion of uric acid from the body.
The first sign of gout is usually an intense pain during the night. The attack is commonly brought on following a day or evening of excess in alcohol, food, some
drugs, or surgery. If the attack progresses, fever and chills will follow. Recurring attacks are common (90%), mostly occurring in the first year. While chronic gout is quite rare, gout sufferers do have a higher risk of kidney dysfunction and kidney stones.
Conventional treatment for the symptoms of gout is the anti-inflammatory drug colchicine. Isolated from the autumn crocus, colchicine has a strong effect to combat inflammation (though it has no effect on uric acid levels!). This provides most sufferers relief within the day, although the drug may be difficult for many to tolerate due to digestive side effects.
To prevent gout attacks, the following lifestyle should be considered:
• Avoid alcohol, a major influence in initiating attacks.
• Follow a low-purine diet. This includes organ meats, meat, shellfish, yeast, and sardines, mackerel, etc.
• Reduce excess food intake including processed carbohydrates, excess fat and excess protein.
If you find yourself or your loved one suffering from a gout attack, it is unlikely you would hesitate to seek professional help. The pain of an acute gout attack has been compared to the pain of childbirth.
However, gout sufferers are overwhelmingly (95%) male.
About the Author
Staff writer for http://www.treatment-info.com
You are welcome to reprint in part or in entirely, please include active URL in byline.
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