is a common form of inflammatory arthritis that is very painful. It usually affects one joint at a time (often the big toe joint). There are times when symptoms get worse, known as flares, and times when there are no symptoms, known as remission. Repeated bouts of gout can lead to gouty arthritis, a worsening form of arthritis.

Causes

Gout occurs when urate crystals accumulate in your joint, causing the inflammation and intense pain of a gout attack. Urate crystals can form when you have high levels of uric acid in your blood. Your body produces uric acid when it breaks down purines — substances that are found naturally in your body.

Purines are also found in certain foods, such as steak, organ meats, and seafood. Other foods also promote higher levels of uric acid, such as alcoholic beverages, especially beer, and drinks sweetened with fruit sugar (fructose).

Normally, uric acid dissolves in your blood and passes through your kidneys into your urine. But sometimes either your body produces too much uric acid or your kidneys excrete too little uric acid. When this happens, uric acid can build up, forming sharp, needlelike urate crystals in a joint or surrounding tissue that cause pain, inflammation, and swelling (www.mayoclinic.org).

Risk Factors

You’re more likely to develop gout if you have high levels of uric acid in your body. Factors that increase the uric acid level in your body include:

• Diet. Eating a diet rich in meat and seafood and drinking beverages sweetened with fruit sugar (fructose) increase levels of uric acid, which increases your risk of gout. Alcohol consumption, especially of beer, also increases the risk of gout.
• Obesity. If you’re overweight, your body produces more uric acid and your kidneys have a more difficult time eliminating uric acid.
• Medical conditions. Certain diseases and conditions increase your risk of gout. These include untreated high blood pressure and chronic conditions such as diabetes, metabolic syndrome, and heart and kidney diseases.
• Certain medications. The use of thiazide diuretics — commonly used to treat hypertension — and low-dose aspirin also can increase uric acid levels. So can the use of anti-rejection drugs prescribed for people who have undergone an organ transplant.
• Family history of gout. If other members of your family have had gout, you’re more likely to develop the disease.
• Age and sex. Gout occurs more often in men, primarily because women tend to have lower uric acid levels. After menopause, however, women’s uric acid levels approach those of men. Men are also more likely to develop gout earlier — usually between the ages of 30 and 50 — whereas women generally develop signs and symptoms after menopause.
• Recent surgery or trauma. Experiencing recent surgery or trauma has been associated with an increased risk of developing a gout attack.

Symptoms

Gout flares start suddenly and can last days or weeks. These flares are followed by long periods of remission—weeks, months, or years—without symptoms before another flare begins. Gout usually occurs in only one joint at a time. It is often found in the big toe. Along with the big toe, joints that are commonly affected are the lesser toe joints, the ankle, and the knee.

Symptoms in the affected joint(s) may include:

• Pain, usually intense
• Swelling
• Redness
• Heat (www.cdc.gov).

Prevention

During symptom-free periods, these dietary guidelines may help protect against future gout attacks:

• Drink plenty of fluids. Stay well-hydrated, including plenty of water. Limit how many sweetened beverages you drink, especially those sweetened with high-fructose corn syrup.
• Limit or avoid alcohol. Talk with your doctor about whether any amount or type of alcohol is safe for you. Recent evidence suggests that beer may be particularly likely to increase the risk of gout symptoms, especially in men.
• Get your protein from low-fat dairy products. Low-fat dairy products may actually have a protective effect against gout, so these are your best-bet protein sources.
• Limit your intake of meat, fish, and poultry. A small amount may be tolerable, but pay close attention to what types — and how much — seem to cause problems for you.
• Maintain desirable body weight. Choose portions that allow you to maintain a healthy weight. Losing weight may decrease uric acid levels in your body. But avoid fasting or rapid weight loss, since doing so may temporarily raise uric acid levels (www.mayoclinic.org).

Treatment

Your healthcare provider may prescribe certain medications to treat gout. Some drugs help control symptoms:

• NSAIDs can reduce pain and swelling. Some people with kidney disease, stomach ulcers, and other health problems are unable to take NSAIDs.
• Colchicine can reduce inflammation and pain if you take it within 24 hours of a gout attack. It’s given by mouth.
• Corticosteroids can relieve pain and swelling. You take steroids by mouth or with an injection.

Drugs that help lower levels of uric acid in your body to prevent or reduce future episodes of gout attacks:

• Allopurinol, taken as a pill.
• Febuxostat, taken as a pill.
• Pegloticase, given as an intravenous (in the vein) infusion.
• Probenecid, taken as a pill (my.clevelandclinic.org).

Natural Remedies for Gout

Studies show that many of the dietary items we consume lead to gout as well as other health problems. Changing your diet and lifestyle may be the easy solution to beating gout. One of the first things to do is eliminate certain foods and beverages from your diet to beat gout.

Celery Seed: Consume celery seed as a tea or have some celery juice. Celery seed has been shown to decrease uric acid buildup in the body. Researchers have identified over a dozen different types of antioxidants that are responsible for the benefits of celery — these include such phenolic acids as caffeic acid and ferulic acid, plus flavaols like quecetin. This makes celery useful for treating a wide range of conditions that are made worse by inflammation: joint pain (such as from arthritis), gout, kidney and liver infections, skin disorders, irritable bowel syndrome, and urinary tract infections (www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov).

Nettle: Nettle is a powerful anti-inflammatory phytonutrient, and you can buy it in tea form. A review of commonly used herbal remedies, including nettles, published in Toxicology and Applied Pharmacology, relays the standing of nettles as an anti-inflammatory food (www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov).

Gout-B-Gone tea: Gout-B-Gone is a delicious caffeine-free infusion formulated to naturally lower the Uric acid levels in the body. Balancing uric acid levels naturally has been known to help ease and prevent Gout “flare-ups.” This tea contains celery seed, nettle, and uva ursi which is similar in function to both celery seed and nettle.

Magnesium: Magnesium is a dietary mineral. Some claim it’s good for gout because a deficiency of magnesium may worsen chronic inflammatory stress in the body. A 2015 study showed that adequate magnesium is associated with lower and healthier levels of uric acid, thus potentially lowering gout risk. This applied to men but not women within the study (www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov).