Gout can be cured and what is the most effective treatment is always a common question of many patients. At the same time, it is also a huge challenge for the medical profession. Follow the article below to know whether gout can be completely cured or not.
Table of Contents
What is gout?
Gout , also known as gout, is a disease that occurs due to a disorder of the metabolism of purines – a product of digestion and conversion of food from protid to protein supply. body. In this process, by-products are also produced, including uric acid.
When the concentration of uric acid in the blood increases, it facilitates the formation of urate salt crystals and deposits in the muscle joints, causing inflammation and pain. Someone will have pain in the big toe joint, knee joint, elbow joint, elbow … and accompanied by red swelling, pain tension …
There are even cases where urate salt crystals are deposited in the internal organs, skin and are not treated to restore function, the disease will increasingly worsen complications of kidney failure, liver failure and eventually death.
Can gout be cured?
Gout is a disease with a long history from the 5th century BC. And so far, has yet to find a specific drug that can completely cure the disease.
Current treatments, from Western medicine to Oriental medicine, are mainly aimed at limiting urate salt deposition and controlling blood uric acid levels at a steady level to avoid flare-ups of acute gout attacks.
However, Western drugs only have quick and effective analgesic and anti-inflammatory effects for acute gout attacks. If uric acid continues to increase and urate deposition, the disease will continue to become more and more serious, transitioning into a chronic gout stage causing extremely dangerous complications.
How long does gout last?
According to specialists in osteoarthritis, gout is divided into 2 main categories, including acute and chronic gout. Each type of disease will have different symptoms, severity of pain, and duration of illness.
For acute gout
- Onset of pain : Acute gout attacks usually appear suddenly in the middle of the night or after drinking parties, eating a lot of protein-rich foods. In addition, patients who have performed trauma, surgery or taking aspirin, diuretics … may also encounter.
- Pain location : most common is the big toe or knee joint …
- Features of the pain : The joint pain occurs suddenly, causing severe pain at night, less painful during the day but still causing swelling, redness, heat … Many other cases with other symptoms such as fatigue, high fever up to 38 – 38.5 0 C …
- Duration : Acute gout attacks usually last 1-2 weeks and then go away on their own without leaving any sequelae. However, it will still recur when the conditions are favorable with the manifestations of the new episodes of arthritis.
At this time, if the patient quickly performs the tests to diagnose gout , the symptoms are soon actively treated and combined with a change in eating habits and scientific activities, the disease may not return. play more.
For chronic gout
- Timing of the disease : When gout turns to a chronic stage, it also means that the treatment of acute gout is ineffective or not definitive. Usually it takes several years or decades depending on the case to transition into the chronic stage.
- Chronic gout symptoms : At this point, the disease is much more serious than acute gout. The most common symptom is the appearance of big tophi blocks floating under the skin, right at the joint position, the bigger the tophi becomes, the swelling and pain cause the joint deformation …
In the chronic stage, tophi appears, it will definitely affect the patient’s health, such as causing acute kidney failure, deformed joints leading to paralysis, permanent loss of ability to walk … when it is not possible. treatment promptly.
Measures to control gout are popular today
As is known, up to now there is not a single drug specifically for gout. Most cases are controlled and supported with drug treatment and dietary changes accordingly.
Accordingly, as soon as detecting painful symptoms in the joints, patients should visit hospitals and medical facilities for advice on how to control gout early, avoid complications and difficult to treat.
Use gout adjuvants
Currently, in modern medicine there are many drugs to treat gout and help to quickly cut gout attacks, including: anti-inflammatory and analgesic drugs that work to deal with arthritis symptoms of acute gout attacks drugs that increase the waste or decrease the synthesis of uric acid in the blood to inhibit disease recurrence.
In which there are some types such as:
- Colchicine : This is a drug that is highly appreciated by experts for its ability to relieve gout pain. It has been shown to provide pain relief within the first 24 hours of an acute gout attack. Be sure to use only prescription medications and adhere to the dosage to avoid side effects and potential risks.
- Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) such as ibuprofen or naproxen are effective in improving sudden onset of gout pain. Note, use should not last longer than 10 days because side effects of the drug can affect the function of the liver and kidneys.
- Prednisolone tablets provide pain relief effects similar to drugs in the NSAID group and especially does not cause digestive disorders. This drug is rated quite highly for its effectiveness and few side effects when used for longer than 5 days.
- In addition, drugs that help reduce synthesis and increase uric acid excretion are also indicated for use to support gout treatment including: Allopurinol, Febuxostat, Probenecid …
However, in fact, for cases of gout when using pain relievers, uric acid control drugs in the blood will bring high efficiency, quickly but in the long term, this is just the method. “Fire fighting” only. Because the urate crystals still exist and damage the joint silently.
Not to mention, patients will be very susceptible to drug dependence and face the dangerous side effects caused by drugs such as impaired kidney function, cardiovascular effects, nausea, dizziness, headache, swelling of the legs. , Stevens Johnson syndrome …
Treatment of gout with Oriental medicine
Because of fear of the side effects of Western drugs, today many patients prioritize the choice of applying oriental medicines and natural herbs. Currently, in traditional medicine, there are still documents about oriental medicine to treat gout, patients can apply in medicine such as:
- Remedy 1 : 12g Uy linh Tiên + 12g cholera + 4g licorice + 3 apples + 10g room + 12g sand basil + 12g bio-soil + 12g skeletal bone + 12g prince + 12g burdock + 12g quince + 20g earth clothing spirit + 20g of spirit. All ingredients are sharpened with 5 bowls of water until 3 bowls are left, then filter the water into 3 parts, drink it all during the day.
- Remedy 2 : 12g Biology + 12g sandal root + 12g opium + 12g white reishi + 3 apples + 4g licorice + 10g scrotum + 12g corpse + 12g depict + 16h load + 12g cutlery + 12g white slip. Put all the ingredients prepared in a sharp pot with 5 bowls of water until 3 parts water is left, then filter the water into 3 parts and drink it all during the day.
In addition, patients can also choose to use herbs that have the ability to reduce pain, lower uric acid in the blood and purify the body such as:
- Perilla leaves
- Hy thiem grass
- Earth clothing spirit
- dandelion
- Green bean
- …
Although it is somewhat effective in the treatment of gout, in terms of the long-term effectiveness, traditional remedies or herbal remedies cannot cure the disease completely, it only works. Use only symptom reduction.
Scientific diet for people with gout
According to a statistic, up to 80% of people with gout come from a non-scientific diet. So, if you want to get rid of this disease completely, then get rid of those unscientific eating habits. Such as:
- Avoid eating a lot of red meat and seafood : In red meat (beef, pork, goat, lamb …) and in seafood containing very high purines. Therefore, nutritionists only encourage people with gout to consume no more than 170g of meat per day to limit the amount of purines in the body.
- Replacing protein sources from plants: To avoid causing a lack of protein in the body, it is best for patients to replace animal protein with plant protein. Some plant-based protein foods such as beans, broccoli, apples, bananas, sweet potatoes, oats, cottage cheese, cherries … Pay attention to avoid foods containing sugar and corn. .
- Low-fat dairy: Some low-fat or skim milk has been found to help reduce uric acid levels in the blood and prevent complications of gout. So, just consuming about 350 – 600ml of low-fat fresh milk each day will help improve gout and good for health.
Some other support measures
For people with gout, in addition to diet, patients also need to comply with some of the following principles:
- Exercise also plays a very important role in supporting gout control. So, be active hard, in addition to time for work, take time to exercise, run, swim, yoga … to improve your health and improve joint function, reduce pain.
- Regularly drink water, make sure to drink enough from 2.5 to 3 liters of water per day. Because water will help dilute the acid levels in the blood and support the elimination of them from the body more easily.
- Regular sex is also an effective way that experts recommend to help improve gout.
With the information in this article, we hope that those suffering from a disease have a better overview of how to treat gout effectively. Whether or not treatment is completely cured depends on many different factors, of which changing eating habits and healthy living is the best way to prevent the disease in the first place. Please consult your doctor for more thorough advice about this disease.
