Gout is a chronic disease, which is based on excessive accumulation of uric acid, which leads to the deposition of microcrystals in the tissues. Clinically, this pathology is manifested by acute arthritis and the formation of tofus - gouty nodules.
This disease is more common among men (95%). Women get gout only after menopause.
The main biochemical manifestation of this lesion is hyperuricemia - an excessive concentration of uric acid in the blood. The main source of acid is purine compounds, which enter the body with food or are formed during the exchange of nucleotides. That is why among the causes of gout, three main etiological processes can be distinguished:
• metabolic disorders, in which an excess of urate is formed;
• damage to the kidneys, which prevents the removal of these compounds from the body;
• hyperurekimia as a result of both of the above processes, when both the formation and excretion of urate is impeded.
Since the disease is accompanied by severe inflammatory changes in the joints, as well as severe damage to the kidneys and tissues of the body, the treatment of gout should be comprehensive and include both medicines and alternative methods of therapy.
Medication for gout
Therapy of this ailment is aimed at relieving acute attacks, eliminating hyperuricemia, preventing the formation of tofus, as well as at their best resorption.
In the acute period of the disease, colchicine is most often prescribed. It is a phosphatase inhibitor that inhibits the process of cell division. The most pronounced therapeutic effect can be observed with its appointment in the prodromal period or with the first symptoms of arthritis.
An alternative to colchicine are non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, among which voltaren or butadion is often used.
Treatment of gout should include drugs that reduce the formation of uric acid and increase the excretion of urates from the body (milurite, orotic acid, ketazone, benemide).
It should be noted that the choice of pharmacological drugs depends on the pathogenesis of the disease. If gout has a metabolic etiology, then uricodepressive drugs are prescribed. They inhibit the formation of uric acid in the body. With the renal type of gout, uricosuric medicines become the drugs of choice, contributing to a more intensive excretion of urate by the kidneys. It should be remembered that this group of drugs is not prescribed for severe renal impairment, for example, renal failure or nephrolithiasis.
I must say that effective treatment of gout is impossible without diet therapy. All patients are prescribed a milk-vegetable diet (No. 6 according to Pevzner). In the chronic course of this disease, physiotherapy, balneotherapy, phonophoresis of hydrocortisone and diathermy are indicated.
Treatment of gout with alternative methods
It must be said right away that independent treatment of gout with the help of alternative methods is not allowed - it should be only an integral part of complex therapy.
Often with gout, an infusion of plant collection is used, which includes odorous violet, bean leaves, bearberry leaves, stigmas of corn and buds of birch. Gentian root broth is also used . Patients are advised to include in their diet a large number of grapes, which should be washed down with alkaline mineral water or a weak solution of baking soda, as well as a lot of strawberries or strawberries.
Joint pain relieves the daily compress of iodine, which is mixed with castor oil and ammonia. A good therapeutic effect is exerted by dioica nettle juice, as well as infusion of sage and lingonberry leaves.
It should be remembered that self-medication can have unpredictable consequences, so any alternative methods should be agreed with the doctor.