Gout
Gout is the most common form of inflammatory arthritis. It is caused by the formation of urate (uric acid) crystals in the joint due to high levels of circulating urate in the blood stream. This can lead to rapid onset joint pain, swelling, warmth, redness and exquisite tenderness to touch. These flares or attacks tend to settle after about one week but if gout remains untreated then flares can occur more frequently, affecting more joints and potentially leading to irreversible joint damage.
There are several risk factors including being overweight, kidney disease (which can be caused by type 2 diabetes and high blood pressure), diet (including alcohol, sugary drinks and red meat), certain medications such as diuretics and some blood pressure medications, older age, genetic factors and being male. Women are extremely unlikely to develop gout before reaching the menopause. Once a diagnosis of gout is made - usually confirmed on a blood test and/or synovial fluid analysis - the goal of treatment is settle the flare of gout followed by commencing preventative treatment. Flares are usually treated with anti-inflammatories, colchicine or steroids tablets/injections. Preventative treatments (for example Allopurinol or Febuxostat) are used to lower the concentration of urate in the blood stream which, over time, reduces the risk of developing a gout flare.