How can gout be fatal

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Javascript must be enabled to use this site. Please enable Javascript in your browser and try again. Now Reading:. Membership My Account. Rewards for Good. Share with facebook. Share with twitter. Share with linkedin. Share using email. Photo by Getty Images People of all sizes and incomes get gout. Photo by Corbis Gout is not a gender-specific disease.

You might have gout. Photo by Corbis Gout can be life threatening if left untreated. Photo by Getty Images There are prescription drugs that can treat gout. Photo by Getty Images Changing your diet can help reduce the frequency of gout attacks. Leaving AARP. Got it! Please don't show me this again for 90 days. Cancel Continue. Thank You. Your email address is now confirmed. They affect about one in five people with gout. If urate crystals collect and build in your urinary tract, they can form kidney stones.

Symptoms of kidney stones include:. To prevent uric acid stones from gout, doctors commonly prescribe the uric acid-lowering medication allopurinol. In some cases, allopurinol and an alkalizing agent may dissolve the uric acid stones. To help prevent calcium stones from forming, your doctor may prescribe a thiazide diuretic or a phosphate-containing preparation.

One in 10 people with chronic kidney disease have gout, and an even higher percentage of people with gout have kidney disease.

Damage from urate crystals can lead to kidney disease over time, especially if gout is not well-treated. Initial symptoms of kidney disease include tiredness, weakness, and decreased energy, says Dr.

However, the kidneys are amazing in their ability to compensate for problems in their function so chronic kidney disease may progress without symptoms for a long time. When decrease in kidney function is severe, people can have symptoms like ankle swelling, nausea, fatigue, and loss of appetite. Gout and cardiovascular disease commonly occur together. In a study published in the Journal of the American Heart Association , researchers from Duke University studied data from more than 17, patients, including 1, who had gout at the start of the study and were being treated for cardiovascular risk factors.

After following patients for an average of 6. Patients who had gout at any point during the study had a two-fold increased risk of heart failure death compared to people who never developed gout. Gout causes inflammation in the joints and the rest of the body; inflammation is also a risk factor for heart disease. Heart disease prevention strategies include maintaining a heart-healthy diet, regular exercise, and better cardiovascular risk assessment. Your doctor may recommend more frequent screening tests or more aggressive management of other heart disease risk factors that also occur with gout, such as high blood pressure.

A study published in the journal the Annals of the Rheumatic Disease found that gout may be independently associated with an increased risk of type 2 diabetes. Excessive alcohol consumption can also contribute to both gout and diabetes. Maintaining healthy eating and exercise habits can prevent and manage diabetes and gout. Foods low in calories and fat but high in fiber fruits, veggies and whole grains can help lower your risk of diabetes.

Drink at least eight cups of water a day; staying hydrated can help you keep healthy blood sugar levels. Cardio and strength training exercise is especially beneficial for lowering blood sugar levels. Since gout attacks often happen at night, people with gout are awoken from sleeping. Pain from gout can prevent you from falling back to sleep. That sleep deprivation can lead to increased stress, mood swings, fatigue, and other health problems.

Gout is also connected with obstructive sleep apnea, a condition that occurs when your airway becomes temporarily and briefly blocked while you sleep.

People with obstructive sleep apnea are often known to also have high uric acid levels, a gout risk factor. Symptoms of sleep apnea include daytime sleepiness, fatigue, snoring, difficulty concentrating, restlessness during sleep, and gasping for air while sleeping. People with sleep apnea experience many small interruptions in breathing while they sleep, and this lowers the level of oxygen in their blood.

Lead study author Hyon K. They found that in the early group, people with RA were 56 percent more likely to die prematurely compared to those without RA. But in the late group, the mortality rate of people with RA was much lower: They were 29 percent more likely to die prematurely.

Lawrence Edwards, MD, vice chairman and professor in the department of medicine at the University of Florida in Gainesville agrees.

It is because we do an absolutely crummy job as a profession of treating-to-target with gout. We do a very good job at treating to target with RA. Choi and Edwards both say that gout tends to be taken much more lightly than RA as an inflammatory disease. Edwards says that gout, roughly four times more common than RA, is a chronic inflammatory condition but people tend to think of it as intermittent episodes of a painful joint. In truth, inflammation is always at work in the joints of people who have gout.

Even when the symptoms of an acute gout attack get better, inflammation continues. Choi explains that the vast majority of people with gout should be receiving urate-lowering medication. However, only a small proportion actually receives treatment, and even fewer stay on it long enough and consistently enough to dissolve the uric acid crystals that trigger the chronic, underlying inflammation. Edwards says. In addition, people with gout need to control medical conditions that go along with gout comorbid conditions , such as hypertension, heart disease and kidney disease.