Gout is a type of joint inflammation that can cause sudden and severe attacks of pain in the joints. I am Dr. Hamid Sajjad, a specialist in internal medicine. This is my YouTube channel. In this video, I want to introduce gout about its causes, symptoms, diagnosis, prevention methods and Let me talk about gout treatment. If you are interested in this topic, watch the rest of the video. Gout usually causes severe and painful symptoms. The first sign of gout is severe pain in the joints. In the early stages of this disease, the intensity of the pain is less and it usually appears as a vague pain in the joints, but as the disease becomes acute, the intensity of the pain increases. These symptoms, which appear mostly at night and suddenly, are associated with these symptoms: severe pain in the joint, especially in the big toe joint, sudden and unexpected pain in the affected joint, heat or redness of the affected joint, sensitive Being touched in such a way that the patient cannot even bear the weight of a very light object on his joint. Having a feeling like burning the big toe on fire, peeling and itching of the skin around the joint. Gout disease mostly affects the lower limbs of the body, and as I said, the joint most affected by this disease is the big toe. The more severe and prolonged this disease is, the more likely it is that more organs will be inflamed. Of course, apart from the big toe, the joint of the foot, knee, elbow, ankle, wrist and hands are also other joints where the symptoms of gout can be observed. It is unusual to suffer from gout in more than one or two joints at the same time. Swelling of the affected areas is another symptom of gout. Usually, after causing pain in different joints, the swelling of these areas also starts and causes abnormal swelling of the involved joint. The set of these symptoms causes a serious disturbance in the function of that joint. If you feel pain or experience sudden and severe pain in the joints of the body, the doctor suspects gout, in this case, with the help of tests and investigations such as The amount of uric acid in the blood and examination of the joint fluid can determine the existence of this disease. As you know, the high amount of uric acid in the body is one of the main characteristics of a person with gout. For this reason, the use of uric acid measurement in the diagnosis of this disease is very important. Checking the amount of uric acid in the body is done by evaluating the patient's blood and urine samples. You must be asking what is the normal level of this factor in our blood? In response, I must say that the normal number of uric acid in women is between 3-5.9 and in men between 4-8.6 There are milligrams per deciliter, and if these numbers increase, there is a high probability that you will get this disease. Usually, at a level above 9, the possibility of kidney stones and gout formation increases. Because the amount of uric acid is not proportional to joint disease, it is recommended for To prevent attacks, the level of uric acid should be reduced to less than 6. For this reason, I said that there is no direct connection because during an acute attack of gout in 5% of patients, the uric acid level is normal and may even be low, that's why the uric acid test is not taken during an acute attack. There is a normal uric acid test method that is done by your blood sample, there is also a 24-hour urine uric acid test method that gives very good information and when it should be done when you are not suffering from acute inflammation. Of course, apart from this test, other tests Such as counting the number of white blood cells, checking the sedimentation of red blood cells or the ESR test can also help in the accurate diagnosis of this disease. For a definitive diagnosis of this disease, the doctor may take fluid samples from the affected joint. This work is done using local anesthesia and includes inserting a needle into the affected joint and collecting a small amount of fluid. This fluid is sent to the laboratory and checked for the presence of uric acid crystals. Gout is confirmed. If the gout disease has caused destruction of the joint, then radiography may be used to diagnose this disease. The first attacks of gout usually affect only one joint and subside after a few days. Subsequent attacks may affect more joints. If not treated, subsequent attacks can last up to three weeks. From now on, attacks happen several times a year. As the disease progresses, gout becomes severe in patients who develop this disease before the age of 30 and whose serum uric acid level is more than 9 mg/dL. If treated early, people with this condition can live a relatively normal life. Those who do not follow the principles of prevention of this disease and have several attacks during the year, there is a possibility that permanent damage to the joint will happen, in which case it will become chronic gout and the joint will change shape and lose its mo