Gout

Gout is a painful inflammation of the joints most commonly isolated to the joint at the base of the big toe. Gout can occur in other areas of the foot/ankle, or even your elbow however it is most common in the joint in your big toe.

This type of arthritis is severely painful and causes great discomfort while walking. Someone with this condition will experience extreme tenderness along the joint line as well as skin warmth and swelling.

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Gout is a form of arthritis. It is the most common form of inflammatory arthritis in men, however it can affect women as well. 

As of 2017 there were estimated to be 41 million cases of gout in the world. Gout can affect various joints of the foot and other joints in the body such as the ankle or knee. 

Acute gout is most commonly located in the MTP joint of the big toe, which is the large joint at the base of the big toe. The pain in the joint is most often sudden and severe and will cause limping. 

One of the known causes of gout is a metabolic disease which deposits uric acid into the joints. This causes an overproduction of uric acid which cannot be filtered out by your kidneys, creating urate crystals which build up in your joints causing inflammation and intense pain. 

Diet is another major factor in causing gout. Your body naturally produces uric acid, however some foods such as red meat, anchovies, sardines, mussels, scallops, trout, tuna, and alcoholic beverages, especially beer, and drinks sweetened with fruit sugar promote higher levels of uric acid.

Normally uric acid is dissolved in your blood and filtered out by your kidneys, however gout can occur when the kidneys lack the ability to eliminate enough uric acid, which allows uric acid to build up into sharp needle-like crystals in your joints. 

Another noted cause is the use of a thiazide diuretic for the treatment of hypertension.

Gout symptoms almost always occur suddenly, and they often happen at night. Here are the things to watch out for:

There are a number of risk factors that can either increase the likelihood of you getting gout, or its acuteness.

Diet is not the only cause of gout, however it can be a major contributor along with other risk factors. For men between 30-50 and women over the age of menopause here are some foods to limit to ensure you are within healthy levels of uric acid production and can avoid gout:

On the flip side there are several foods that have some evidence for lowering the risk of gout attacks, these include: