Is Gout Hurting You or Someone You Know?*

Helpful information on gout & natural techniques to help the body live gout-free.*

Many Get Well Natural customers have received positive results from taking "Gout-Well". They have asked us to write more articles on natural effective options for gout sufferers.*

As a result, we put together some valuable information for you, or anyone else you may know that is concerned with gout and its excruciatingly painful symptoms.*

What exactly is Gout?*

Gout is a disorder of purine metabolism caused by elevation of uric acid levels within the blood. The uric acid crystallizes, forming sharp deposits in the joints, tendons or other tissue. These crystals can cause excruciating pain.*

Gout is a form of inflammatory arthritis that creates symptoms most frequently in the base of the big toe, but can also affect the fingers, elbows, wrist, knees, heels and ankles.*

Gout Symptoms*

Symptoms of a gout attack may include swelling, redness, heat, stiffness, inflammation and moderate to excruciating pain. Initial gout attacks generally last 3-10 days but attacks can last longer if the cause of an individual's uric acid imbalance is not corrected.*

Uric acid is naturally produced by the body from the breakdown of substances called purines. Purines are found in foods, such as fish, meat, poultry, dried beans and mussels. Normal levels of uric acid range between 3.5 and 7.2 mg/dL.*

While elevated uric acid levels in the blood (called hyperuricemia), and excessive uric acid crystals, do not always manifest themselves as gout symptoms, causes of a sudden gout attack can relate to any of the following:*

1. Dietary intake high in food that contain purines.*
2. Higher levels of stress may trigger gout.*
3. Alcohol consumption can lead to hyperuricemia.*
4. Drugs that can cause gout can include diuretics, aspirin, caffeine, antiuricosurics, cyclosporine, or levodopa.*

Taking Action to Eliminate Gout*

Taking action to eliminate gout is vital in order to prevent long term consequences.*

Chronic gout can cause kidney stones, chronic pain and stiffness, damage to the kidneys, and swollen nodules under the skin. Improving uric acid metabolism, by addressing the dysfunction and imbalance in the body, can help make gout attacks a thing past for many.*

What are the Best Natural Methods to Help the Body Live Gout-Free?*

In order to live gout-free, it is important to provide the body with vital support according to Eastern Medicine practitioners. Normalizing uric acid metabolism, and uric acid elimination, as well as decreasing the intake of substances known to increase uric acid levels, can help the body live gout-free.*

Here are some methods to naturally support a gout-free experience:*

1. Dring Water: By drinking adequate amounts of water, the body is more able to remove uric acid.*
2. Dietary Supplements: Our unique proprietary supplement called Gout Well contains an Eastern Medicine based herbal formula designed by doctors for their patients looking to improve uric acid metabolism and end gout symptoms.*
3. Reduce Saturated Fat: Saturated fats can lower the body's ability to eliminate uric acid effectively.*
4. Avoid high fructose corn syrup: HFCS has been shown in research to increase uric acid, increase triglycerides, cause weight gain and insulin resistance.*
5. Alcohol reduction: Since alcohol (mainly beer and spirits) interferes with the elimination of uric acid from the body, cutting down or avoiding these forms of alcohol altogether can help improve gout symptoms. A research study published in 2010 found that woman who drank more than 4 alcoholic beverages per week, tripled their risk for getting gout.*

How is Gout treated in Western Medicine & in Eastern Medicine?*

Western Medicine*

In Western Medicine, doctors generally do not treat the cause of gout. Instead doctors will often prescribe pharmaceutical treatments for gout, such as anti inflammatory drugs, steroids and colchicines, which are primarily used for symptomatic improvement.*

To check a person's uric acid levels, doctors need to use a large needle to draw out the synovial fluid from an inflamed joint to examine it for uric acid crystals. Other drugs like allopurinol and probenecid are then used to lower levels of uric acid in the blood.*

Since all of these drugs have potential negative side effects, and they do not always treat the cause of the gout, many people look to more natural methods.*

Eastern Medicine*

In Eastern Medicine, practitioners use natural herbal remedies that enhance microcirculation in the kidney and distal extremities to change the body's constitution. Eastern medicine understands gout to be a similar causal process as other stone or crystallization disorders such as kidney stones or gall bladder stones. The process of all these disorders is due to stagnation. Stagnation is a term used in Eastern Medicine when an individual's energy doesn't flow smoothly.*

When there is decreased flow of urine or bile, crystallization and stone formation can occur. In the case of gout, this stagnation occurs in the small blood vessels. Stagnation causes decreased blood flow and this decreased circulation can contribute to localized uric acid crystals formation, acidosis, tophi and stones. Eastern Medicine based formulas are created to address these areas of concern without the use of toxic pharmaceutical drugs.*

Pain Can Be a Good Sign*

Pain can be a sign of healing. It is important to note, that once a person's body becomes more efficient at dissolving uric acid formations in the joints, symptoms can actually increase for a short time as those crystals dissolve. This situation is often referred to as a "Healing Crisis". A "healing crisis" is a natural part of the healing process that can happen on the road to recovery when the body begins to eliminate toxins that would otherwise remain in the body if healing wasn't taking place.*

Other Health Tips Related to Gout*

1. Some people who have gout, may not even know they have it. Gout symptoms are often misdiagnosed as other forms of arthritis such as rheumatoid or osteoarthritis. To confirm an accurate diagnosis of gout, a visit with your doctor, and special synovial fluid testing is required.*
2. Other "Natural Methods" that gout sufferers have tried include acupuncture, massage, cupping, cold laser treatments, as well as eating more beneficial fruits such as cherries (contain an enzyme that neutralizes uric acid), pineapples, blackberries, and blueberries (all berries are high in bioflavonoids which contain healthy anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties).*
3. Horses, dogs and cats can also use Gout Well to better support their body and joints.*
4. Microcirculation deficiencies are not only associated with gout cases but are also typical in people with metabolic syndrome, diabetes, hypertension, and people on diuretics and antihypertensive medications.*

Let us know your thoughts, questions or suggestions!

The Staff at Get Well Natural, LLC

Click to Learn about Gout Well*

Sources:
1. http://www.niams.nih.gov/Health_Info/gout/
2. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3134238/
3. Bhole V, et al. (2010). Epidemiology of gout in women. Arthritis and Rheumatism, 62(4): 1069–1076.
4. http://www.mayoclinic.org
5. Angelopoulos TJ1, Lowndes J, Zukley L, Melanson KJ, Nguyen V, Huffman A, Rippe JM., The effect of high-fructose corn syrup consumption on triglycerides and uric acid. J Nutr. 2009 Jun;139(6):1242S-1245S. doi: 10.3945/jn.108.098194. Epub 2009 Apr 29.

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