I was always told that 'good living' caused gout. What really causes it?

robboy

More like good eating can be a large factor in some. Gout is basically like arthritis, with it being an inflammation of a joint of the foot or ankle. [Jun 13 04 12:08 PM] robboy writes: Forgot to say the reason: It's an excess of uric acid, which doesn't get excreted in urine, or can get properly filtered by the kidneys. [Jun 13 04 1:54 PM] robboy writes: Try this Miss G, for a more detailed description: http://www.podiatrychannel.com/gout/ Of particular interest are the last two paragraphs, under 'Prevention'. Like they say, there is such a thing as too much of a "good" thing. Jun 13 04, 11:06 AM

yeaux

Gout is one of three known 'crystal deposition diseases.' The pathophysiology of this ancient disorder was finally described about 40 years ago by Jarvis Seegmiller of the Natioanl Institutes of Health. The inflammatory arthritic portion of the disease is caused by ingestion [phagocytosis] of crystalline uric acid by polymorphonuclear leukocytes [PMNS] in synovial joint fluid. This ingestion causes activation of the kallikrein-kinin system which causes the pain. Uric acid is the major end product of metabloism of nucleoprotein which is found in all animal tissue. There are two basic kinds of gout; that produced by overproduction of uric acid from endogenous nucleoproteins by an up-regulation of the enzyme hypoxanthine-guanine phosphoribosyl transferase; or by underexcretion of normally produced uric acid by the kidneys. The normal excretion of uric acid by the kidneys can be blocked by a number of medications, thiazide diuretics are the most common. Diet and riotous living has very little to do with it. Jun 13 04, 6:53 PM