Exercise does not prevent gout attacks or reduce uric acid crystals, but maintaining joint mobility is still important. Gout is caused by the accumulation of uric acid crystals in joints due to inefficient metabolism. Treatment involves a purine-free diet, hydration, and medication. Avoiding purine-rich foods, maintaining a healthy weight, and taking prophylactic medication can prevent gout recurrence.
Doctors suggest that people diagnosed with gout engage in physical exercise as a means of maintaining joint mobility. Exercise and gout no longer have a medically proven relationship, since physical activity does not prevent gout attacks and does not reduce the size or number of uric acid crystals. Inhibiting gout attacks requires people to follow a diet that eliminates or minimizes the amount of food eaten that is known to contain purine. Patients must also stay well hydrated and take medications as prescribed.
When people eat foods that contain purine, the body breaks down the chemical into uric acid. Most of the time, the kidneys remove acid from the body. However, some people do not metabolize uric acid as efficiently as others, and the acid travels through the blood and enters the synovial lining of the joints in the form of crystals, commonly known as tophi. Although only the size of a white blood cell, the crystals accumulate and irritate the joint. This is the condition doctors refer to as gout.
Health care providers consider gout to be a type of arthritis, since the condition typically affects the joints. It can affect any joint in the body, but most often it occurs in the big toe, which usually appears red and can be swollen. This is caused by inflammation of the joint, and patients usually complain of burning pain. The affected joint may also appear stiff and difficult to move. Exercise and gout during such an active attack are related only by the irritation exercise would cause to the joint.
Treatment of gout at this stage usually requires elevating and resting the affected area, along with the use of cold compress applications. Doctors often suggest using over-the-counter or prescription anti-inflammatory medications to minimize gout pain. Flares in the early stages of the disease generally occur infrequently and resolve without intervention. People for whom the condition does not resolve or people who experience repeated attacks usually require further evaluation. Doctors perform a physical examination of the affected area and test the levels of uric acid in the blood.
Since purine-rich foods are one of the main causes of gout recurrence, patients should avoid eating organ meats and canned fish, such as anchovies, herring, and sardines. Other foods that cause gout include beer and alcohol in general, since alcoholic beverages decrease the elimination of uric acid. Asparagus, legumes, mushrooms, and yeast also contain fairly high levels of the chemical. Some doctors suggest drinking more fluids to allow the kidneys to properly remove uric acid from the body.
Most healthcare providers also advise patients to maintain a healthy body weight. Prophylactic treatment of gout may include the prescription drug colchicine, which inhibits the inflammatory processes that result from the presence of tophi. They may also suggest medications that prevent the formation of uric acid.
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