Dr. Lam Labs, LLC

Alternative Gout Treatments

There are various gout treatments available. The treatment usually involves medications. These can be used to treat acute gout attacks, prevent future attacks, and reduce complications of gout.

Gout is a common painful condition that presents as red, warm, swollen, and stiff joints. It occurs more frequently in men than women. Older people are also more likely to develop gout.

When uric acid builds up in the body, this leads to the development of gout. It can affect the joints such as the ankles, knees, wrists, fingers, elbows, and heels but the big toe is most commonly affected.

Signs and symptoms of gout are a very painful joint which is shiny, red, swollen, hot, and stiff. Some people also have fever and gout symptoms can develop very quickly, often occurring at night. At first, this may go away within a week only to recur later on.

The levels of uric acid in the blood can increase because of a lot of factors. A diet rich in seafood as well as high protein and high purine foods can trigger gout development. Other factors that can elevate blood uric acid are obesity, moderate to heavy alcohol ingestion, certain medicines, high blood pressure, and hypothyroidism.

Aside from the usual gout treatment medications for gout such as colchicine and allopurinol, there are alternative gout treatments for those who are wary of side effects. Coffee is one of the natural remedies that is thought to lower uric acid levels. Both regular and decaffeinated coffee had an effect in lowering gout risk. However, it is not really clear why coffee decreases gout risk.

Vitamin C can also reduce uric acid levels in the body although it has not really been studied and proven as a treatment for gout. But it is not recommended to take megadoses of vitamin C because it might elevate the levels of uric acid in the body.

Recent studies have shown that cherries have shown to relieve gout symptoms. Adding cherries to the diet is a good way to supplement the usual gout treatment. Cherries are full of vitamins and are rich in antioxidants to prevent diseases. Cherries are known to have many health benefits, particularly in reducing inflammation in the body. This makes cherry extract very important in the natural treatment of gout.