Gout is a form of chronic arthritis that is common in middle-aged people. The disease occurs due to an increase in blood uric acid levels leading to deposition of urate crystals in the joints. According to experts, gout has 4 stages and the signs will be mentioned in the article below.
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Stages of gout and how to recognize them
Gout is a common form of arthritis that causes a lot of pain and discomfort for people with it. People with gout often experience swelling and pain in the joints of their feet, especially the big toe. The pain can sometimes be sudden or severe, making the patient feel like the pain is being inserted into the joints.
The disease occurs more commonly in middle-aged people, especially men. The direct cause of the disease is an excess of uric acid in the blood and other risk factors are an unhealthy diet, frequent alcohol use, obesity and inactivity.
According to many osteoarthritis experts, gout usually progresses through 4 stages. Detail:
1. High uric acid concentration
High uric acid levels are also known as hyperuricemia but there are no symptoms of an acute gout attack. During this stage, physical damage and muscle symptoms are not present. Therefore, the only factor that can determine the disease is abnormally high blood uric acid levels.
An increase in blood uric acid will be determined when the concentration is higher than 7mg / dl (for men) and 6mg / dl (for women). But gout progresses quite slowly, so if detected in time, you can adjust your uric acid levels to prevent gout symptoms from occurring.
According to statistics, about 20% of cases of hyperuricemia develop into gout. In case of medical examination and timely adjustment, the uric acid concentration can return to balance and limit acute gout attacks.
Almost at the stage of hyperuricemia usually does not develop any physical or physical symptoms. So to be able to determine the patient should go to the hospital to measure the concentration of uric acid in the blood.
2. Occurrence of acute gout
Acute gout pain occurs when people drink too much alcohol, eat a lot of red meat and seafood in a short time. The excess uric acid concentration then forms urate crystals. These crystals will deposit in plaques and accumulate around the joint.
Acute gout attacks are always sudden, often occurring at night. When uric acid levels are high to a certain level, acute gout pain will flare up within 6-24 hours.
Signs to identify the presence of acute gout:
- Severe joint pain and acute gout pain are often more severe than those associated with degenerative pain and rheumatoid arthritis .
- Swollen red and hot joints.
- Symptoms are often sudden, intense, and last for 6 to 24 hours.
- The pain can interfere with sleep, causing weakness and difficulty in movement.
- Symptoms usually tend to get better and go away after 3 to 10 days.
For most people with gout, a second episode of gout occurs 6 months to 2 years after the first attack. After that, more acute gout attacks occurred in frequency of occurrence and number of joints affected. If there is no timely remedy, acute gout attacks will appear more frequent and more severe, then the recovery time will take longer than the initial attacks of gout.
When an attack of gout attacks, the patient should visit and treat. Arthritis pain relievers and swelling are prescribed to improve symptoms. Note that treatment is temporal only and cannot address the underlying cause of gout nor reduce uric acid in the blood.
So, to control possible attacks of gout attacks, patients should always keep their uric acid levels below 6mg / dl. Also, methods of reducing uric acid are used to maintain concentrations at safe thresholds.
3. Joint damage (chronic stage)
During this stage, the disease causes little symptoms but plays an important role in the development of the disease. Without early intervention, urate salt crystals will accumulate over time and cause destruction of cartilage tissue as well as bone head damage.
Studies show that, when blood uric acid is high, uric acid crystals (crystals that cause acute pain) are still present in the joints. Therefore, even in the absence of pain, urate salt crystals continue to damage joints.
Identification mark:
- Joint pain may or may not be present with the same level of pain and not as severe as an acute gout attack.
- The joint area shows signs of redness and heat swelling.
- In some cases, any characteristic symptoms may not be noticed.
At this stage, treatment requires the use of drugs in combination with a healthy lifestyle to maintain uric acid levels at 6-7mg / dl. In the absence of treatment, blood uric acid can increase rapidly and make the disease progress in a negative direction.
4. Tophi seed stage
Tophi is the last stage of gout, when urate crystals will stick to the joint and form tophi particles. These particles will be deposited in the toe and finger joints, causing pain, impaired motor function and increasing the risk of joint deformity, leading to disability.
Identification mark:
- Joint shows signs of swelling, when observed, white particles will be visible.
- Deformed joints lead to difficulty in movement.
- In some cases, tophi can appear in the ear, kidneys and blood vessels.
- During this period, gout not only causes complications in the joints but also negatively affects blood pressure, blood sugar, and cardiovascular disease and increases the risk of kidney failure.
The tophi stage is the stage with the most dangerous level and can be directly life threatening. Treatment in this stage must be combined with the use of drugs, tophi seed removal surgery and strict adherence to the nutritional regimes set by the doctor.
At different stages, there will be appropriate treatment regimens for patients with gout. This is considered progressive arthritis and is difficult to control. For patients with many complications, for effective treatment results, patients need to strictly adhere to and control the disease strictly from medicine, diet, lifestyle.
