Gout is more than painful arthritis in joints, it can spread to organs if not treated
HOUSTON - A painful condition called gout may be the most common form of inflammatory arthritis, but it's also the least known. It's dangerous because it can not only affect joints, but it can spread to major organs in the body.
We caught up with a young man who finally has his disease under control, but it has taken years to get there.
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Chris Guzman is only in his 20's and finally able to enjoy time with his family and friends again. He suffered severe pain that started in his feet four years ago.
"I just felt this pain in my big toe, one of my big toes. I've never felt it before. I was just thinking I was just on my feet too long," says Chris.
It was much more than just tired feet.
"It's hard to explain because I've never experienced it in my life. It's like one of the craziest things. I'd be in my blanket trying to move and one little touch, not even me touching the blanket, but the blanket being moved, caused tremendous pain. I can't even describe it, I can't even tell you," says Chris.
Like many patients with gout, Chris kept getting misdiagnosed. After his own research, he requested a certain test.
"My mom and my sisters are nurses too. So I told them, there's something wrong with me. I don't know what's going on, and they told me to tell my doctor to go for a uric acid test in my blood. That's when we found out when I asked him. They didn't even offer any blood tests or anything like that. I had to ask for it, and at that point, that's when I knew there was gout," says Chris.
Gout (Photo By BSIP/UIG Via Getty Images)
Gout happens when there's too much uric acid in the blood. It causes extremely painful crystals to build in the body.
Dr. Abdul Abdellatif is Associate Professor of Medicine-Nephrology at Baylor College of Medicine and the Founder of the Kidney Hypertension & Transplant Clinic at CLS Health. While he is not Chris's doctor, he's speaking out because he agrees it's sometimes tough to get a gout diagnosis.
"It's under-diagnosed, as well as under-treated. Most of the patients who really do not get the diagnosis early-on, their disease progresses enough to cause destructive joint disease. These patients may become disabled and it basically impinges on the other organs that can exacerbate cardiovascular disease, it can exacerbate kidney disease, and may lead to metabolic disorders as well in the body," states Dr. Abdellatif.
What often starts in the joint of the big toe, or sometimes the hands, can lead to chronic arthritis and spread to major organs. It can also cause painful kidney stones when not treated correctly, but treatments are available.
"We have medications to control the uric acid level in the blood to prevent precipitation in different organs specifically in the joints, but also some of those patients may be refractory to these oral medications and may require a higher level of therapy such as infusion therapies," says Dr. Abdellatif.
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Lifestyle changes can also lower uric acid levels. People suffering from gout are encouraged to limit eating red meat, seafood, and vegetables high in purine, like asparagus, mushrooms, spinach, and cauliflower and limit drinking beer and sugary drinks. Helpful options are other types of fresh veggies and fruit, non-dairy items, and foods like nuts and rice.
"A lot of patients also may feel like gout is their fault. Why? Because they may link it to what they eat or drink if they're having a seafood plate and then had some alcohol with it and the next morning, they wake up with their joints on fire from an acute gout attack, but it's really more the fact that they are untreated, therefore they're always at the threshold to have an acute or gout attack as they eat some foods that are rich in purines, which eventually can lead to high uric acid in the circulation," explains Dr. Abdellatif.
He encourages patients to keep trying different treatments until they find one that helps. Again, he says IV therapy often works, if oral medications do not.
The biggest risk factors for gout can be genetic, but can also be sparked by obesity, stress, and foot injury.
For more information on gout, click here.