The Water of a Gout Sufferers Life: WATER!

I'm going with obvious information today, but if your new to gout maybe you need to hear this.  Drinking water is one of your best ways to prevent that horrid pain.  Don't believe me, then don't take my word for it?Google: gout water.  This is what I came up with on the front page, If you're going to leave my site, don't worry I'll wait for you:

Water May Wash Away Gout Attacks

Fighting Gout with Skim Milk and Water

NYTimes-Why Do I have Gout? "Many doctors who treat patients with gout advise them to cut down on purines and drink more water."

Water and Gout

Gout: What Can I Do to Help Myself - "Drink lots of water – between 1.5 and 2.5 litres a day (six to eight glasses) to help prevent kidney stones."

Water does a marvelous job of washing away the uric acid in your body, stopping it from forming into crystals that cause the horrid pain.  It should be your first line of defense against the feelings of pain, defenselessness, and fear of walking that can plague gout sufferers.  (In my opinion, Allopurinol with a big glass of water is your second one-after you are well committed to drinking the water.)

My personal goal of water consumption everyday is 3 liters.  I feel like a 50% bump on the always quoted 8 glasses a day aka 2 liters gives an extra oomph to wash out uric acid. Oh-and I should add-coffee seems to assist in lowering uric acid levels (According to the US National Library of Medicine National Institutes of Health). If that link wasn't fun to read you can see some of the same basic information in laymen's terms from MedPage Today.  According to that link tea didn't really have any effect on your uric acid levels, though as long as it doesn't seem to affect you I use it once in awhile to substitute a few mL to get up to my 3 liters for a day.

Of course there is a study out from Medicinenet and the American College of Rheumatology that basically contradicts that other article.  If you've read some of my other entries you know: gout is tricky and seemingly different people get attacks from different triggers.

If you're looking to increase or track your water consumption, might I recommend Argus to you.

For me personally: getting the heavy dose of daily liquids is far more of a help, the only major drawback is I have 5-6 trips to the restroom everyday.  As I recall in the beginning I would wake up once or twice in the middle of the night to empty my bladder as well.

Do you find coffee helps or trigger a gout attack?  How much water do you drink in a day?  If you drink as much or more than me you must go for a leak quite a bit!  Leave me a comment!

**This website is for informative purposes and should not be substituted as advice of a medical professional.  If you believe you have gout, I STRONGLY recommend scheduling an appointment with a medical professional and getting the problem checked out.

The Gout Sufferers Cheat Sheet: The New York Times Gout Report

Are you looking for comprehensive gout info?  Look no further than this in-depth report from the New York Times.  All of the scientific research on gout here is 10 years old or less.  No matter your political opinion on the New York Times, the information contained on this page comes from medical professionals whose jobs are assisting people like myself and some of you who are only seeking to improve your quality of life.  In the future on this site, I will be referencing this page quite a bit.

For today, I want to highlight a couple of interesting things I found reading this page my first time.  I'll come back to this page in the future, but for today:

Dietary Considerations

"While meat and certain types of seafood and shellfish do produce high levels of purines in the blood, research has suggested that not all purine-rich foods are associated with gout. Eating a moderate amount of purine-rich vegetables (spinach, cauliflower, mushrooms, legumes) does not appear to increase the risk of gout." [1]

Some people use a chart to determine their diet to avoid gout.  I am going to tackle diet at sometime or another on this blog, but for right now, allow me to turn off my serious gout blogger mode and say this:

(joke over)...As I chat with other gout sufferers I find more and more that the foods that trigger gout for some people don't trigger it for others.  Science seems to strongly suggest that the intake of purine-rich vegetables is okay.  I'd go as far to suggest to you that it's great to consume any vegetable you enjoy because promoting a healthy lifestyle could help you to:

Maintain a Healthy Weight

"A supervised weight-loss program may be a very effective way to reduce uric acid levels in overweight patients. Crash dieting, on the other hand, is counterproductive because it can increase uric acid levels and may cause an acute attack."[1]

Another reference to how gout is a tricky condition.  Do try to lose weight if you are a sufferer, but don't do it by going crazy with the weight loss-cause you could just trigger another attack.  So if the veggies aren't making your toe, ankle, knee, etc etc etc hurt eat 'em up!  Develop a healthier lifestyle to avoid the pain.

Finally...

I hope you'll take time to read through the report for yourself.  Educating yourself about the horribleness that is gout is one of the best ways to take preventative measures against that awful pain, and that report is a VERY good place to start.  

Do you have a helpful resource concerning gout?  Let me know in the comments section! 

**This website is for informative purposes and should not be substituted as advice of a medical professional.  If you believe you have gout, I STRONGLY recommend scheduling an appointment with a medical professional and getting the problem checked out.

[Sources: 1-http://www.nytimes.com/health/guides/disease/gout-chronic/print.html]

Gout Medical Treatment Research

Another post and another topic:  the future of gout prevention and treatment.  We will again look at at the National Institute of Arthritis Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases website, a very useful resource for learning about gout.  

As I've stated before, gout is a tricky condition, for example, if you are overweight you are more susceptible to developing gout and after you've developed it if you lose that weight you can often get a flare up then. What a horrid place to be in!  Fortunately in my mind the future of gout treatment is looking up!  Let me tell you why:

In my readings, I've learned that gout is rare in animals.  Scientists do believe, however; that poor Sue the Tyrannosaurus  did suffer from gout. Gout is rare in most animals because they have an enzyme that breaks down the purines in their body.  New medicines like Krystexxa help humans to do the same, though this treatment has just hit the market and is very expensive though I am personally hopeful that in the future we will see cheaper versions of this medicine that will be easier to take.  

Let's look at the NIAMS websites discussion on the future of gout treatment:

What Research Is Being Done on Gout?

Scientists are studying:

• Which NSAIDs are the most effective treatments for gout
• Optimal dosages of medications for gout
• New medicines that safely lower uric acid in the blood and reduce symptoms
• New therapies that block a chemical called tumor necrosis factor
• Enzymes that break down purines in the body
• The role of foods and certain vitamins
• The role of genetics and environmental factors
• The interactions of cells involved in acute gout attacks.

Scientists are also studying the role of genetics and environmental factors in hyperuricemia and gout. [1]

 Gout sufferers and friends and family, I believe there is hope. Have you heard any news concerning gout research or treatment?  Leave your comments here!

**This website is for informative purposes and should not be substituted as advice of a medical professional.  If you believe you have gout, I STRONGLY recommend scheduling an appointment with a medical professional and getting the problem checked out.

[Source: http://www.niams.nih.gov/Health_Info/Gout/gout_ff.asp]