Early signs of gout

According to MSc. Dr. Dinh Pham Thi Thuy Van, Department of Internal Medicine, Orthopedics and Trauma Center, Tam Anh General Hospital, Ho Chi Minh City, although it is a benign bone and joint disease, complications of gout such as bone fractures, kidney stones, diabetes can cause disability and threaten life. Patients need to pay attention to abnormalities in the body for timely examination and treatment.

In the early stages of gout, the patient only has increased uric acid levels in the blood, and has not yet formed crystals that cause arthritis, so they often do not notice any symptoms.

Most cases are detected at an advanced stage and do not require treatment. The disease can be controlled with care and changes in eating and living habits. On the contrary, if not detected early, uric acid levels continue to increase, leading to the accumulation of urate crystals causing inflammation and the appearance of disease symptoms.

Gout has different symptoms at each stage. (Illustration)

In stage 2, the symptoms are obvious, uric crystals are deposited around the joints, often in the big toe, ankle, knee, wrist and elbow, causing acute inflammation. At this time, the patient has severe pain and discomfort, the affected joints become swollen, soft, hot and red. The onset of the disease often appears suddenly, lasting only 3 to 10 days, the pain symptoms gradually decrease over time.

In stage 3, the frequency of inflammation and acute gout symptoms becomes more and more frequent, seriously affecting the joints.

Gout that has progressed to stage 4 may develop tophi. These nodules appear as small, swollen nodules that develop just below the skin, at the joints. Permanent damage may occur to many joints in the body, even the kidneys. At this stage, if treatment is delayed, the patient may face irreversible complications, seriously affecting health and mobility.

Experts recommend that in the early stages, gout often has no obvious symptoms. People at risk of the disease should pay attention to the body's warning signs to promptly treat, prevent the disease from progressing, reduce the risk of dangerous complications, and reduce the quality of life.

Some groups of people with high risk factors for the disease are women in menopause, overweight and obese people also have high risk factors for gout, people with unhealthy lifestyles, alcohol abuse, tobacco, stimulants, and high consumption of animal protein in their diet need to pay close attention to early detection of signs of the disease and timely treatment.

Nhu Loan

Source: https://vtcnews.vn/dau-hieu-nhan-biet-som-benh-gout-ar909361.html