Prevent Gout

An acute gout attack may be one of the most painful things a person can experience. This is why getting rid of the pain the primary treatment for gout. Getting an attack under control does not however guarantee that another attack will not recur. Being a progressive, chronic disease, gout can reoccur and if it does it can be more painful and more frequent. It is therefore very important in a long term management to prevent gout attacks from recurring.

The primary cause of gout is of course high uric acid. In order to prevent gout attacks from recurring, uric acid has to be kept at normal levels of below 6mg/dL. In addition to ways of reducing the uric acid that will be discussed below, we will also mentioned known gout attack triggers.

When the pain is kept under control, the following diet and lifestyle changes are advised to help prevent gout in the future:

Prevent Gout – Foods

Reduce the consumption of purine-rich foods such as red meat, fishes like herring and anchovies and poultry. Purines increase uric acid in the body. If you cannot avoid eating, limit portion size of this food type to less than 100 grams per day.

Eat dairy and dairy-rich foods. Proteins found in dairy are found to help in reduction of uric acid in the body.

Avoid alcohol especially beer. Beer is the most purine-rich beverage there is.

Drink lots of fluids, particularly water. Drink as many as 2 to 3 litters a day.

Lose weight if you are obese or overweight, but do it slowly. Talk to your doctor about a good exercise program for you. Obesity and diseases associated with it like diabetes and hypertension are two commonly associated diseases with gout. Crash dieting is very common trigger for gout attacks as it can cause the uric acid in the body to spike suddenly.

In addition to these diet and lifestyle changes, work with your doctor on medication to lower uric acid. There are two types of medications available:

Prevent Gout – Medications

Medication that prevents the formation of uric acid, these types of medications reduce the over production in the body. Examples of these medicines are Allopurinol and Febuxostat.

Medication that lowers uric acid by increasing its removal prevents uric acid from being reabsorbed by the kidneys, removing it via the urine. Examples include Probenecid, Benzbromarone and Sulfinpyrazone.