What Is Gout? Gout is a type of arthritis characterized by pain, stiffness, and inflammation in the joints. The word gout was derived from the Latin gutta and old French gote, meaning a drop. Hundreds of years ago, people believed that gout was caused by viscous humors: in ancient Western physiology, humors are one of the four body fluids that determine a persons temperament and features.4 These humors would seep from the blood and become deposited in the joints, where they would cause excruciating pain.5 This ancient belief isnt very far from the truth, as gout was found to be actually caused by excessive uric acid that crystalize in your joints. Essentially, gout occurs when the metabolic process that controls the amount of uric acid in your blood breaks down. Gout is more prevalent among men, who usually have higher uric acid levels in their blood than women. But this doesnt mean women are exempt from this disease – it can actually affect them after menopause. Once a woman reaches menopause, her body drastically cuts its production of the hormone estrogen, which helps the kidneys excrete uric acid. Without enough estrogen, a womans uric acid level begins to increase. By age 60, the number of cases of gout in women and men are nearly equal.
Posted on: Fri, 17 Oct 2014 02:30:38 +0000
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