Hello doctor!: Drinking beer and eating a lot of seafood can cause gout?

'I recently heard that gout is getting younger. I'm 35 years old, I often drink beer and eat seafood. How do I know if I'm at risk of gout? Should I get tested regularly? (Quoc Hung, in Can Tho).

Doctor Nguyen Thu Ha , Head of Nutrition - Dietetics Group, Nam Saigon International General Hospital, answered:

In fact, gout is no longer an “old man’s disease.” Most cases of acute gout begin between the ages of 35 and 55 and are more common in men. The condition rarely occurs before age 25 or after age 65.

However, nowadays, many young people have begun to experience early symptoms of gout due to a diet high in protein, animal organs, alcohol and a sedentary lifestyle.

Gout is a form of arthritis caused by a disorder of purine metabolism - a natural compound found in yeast, seafood, red meat, animal organs... When consuming too much of these foods, uric acid, a by-product of purine breakdown, will increase.

Normally, uric acid is excreted mainly through urine. However, if the excretion process is poor or the body produces too much, uric acid will increase in the blood and begin to accumulate, forming urate salt crystals that adhere to the joints. These urate salt crystals aggregate to form lumps called Tophi - a manifestation of chronic gout.

A diet high in protein, animal organs, and alcohol will increase uric acid.

PHOTO: AI

This accumulation process usually begins at puberty and can last for 20-40 years without any symptoms until the first acute gout attack occurs.

Typical symptoms of gout are severe, increasing pain, even light contact is very painful, accompanied by swelling, redness, edema, tension, heat in a joint - especially in the big toe joint, ankle joint or knee. This condition often starts suddenly at night or early morning, appears after excessive meals, drinking alcohol, after strong emotions, exertion or sudden cold, after injury including wearing tight shoes, after infection...

How to detect gout early?

In the early stages, gout may not have obvious symptoms. Therefore, proactive testing is an important step to help detect risks early and promptly adjust lifestyle.

Basic tests are often ordered:

• Blood uric acid test (UA): Measures the level of uric acid in the blood.
• 24-hour urine UA test: Measures the amount of uric acid excreted in urine over 24 hours.
• Monosodium urate (MSU) crystal testing in joint fluid or tissue (tophi): Looking for urate crystals under a microscope - the gold standard for definitive diagnosis of gout.
• Kidney function test: Assesses the kidney's ability to filter and excrete uric acid. Joint X-ray: Detects bone damage caused by long-term gout (image of bone defect in the shape of a cavity at the end of the bone, narrowing of the joint space, bone spurs, etc.).
• Other tests: Erythrocyte sedimentation rate, inflammatory index...

Normal uric acid levels in the blood: Men: 200-420 µmol/L (equivalent to 3.4-7 mg/dL). Women: 140-360 µmol/L (equivalent to 2.4-6 mg/dL).

Advice from doctors:

With his current eating habits, Mr. Hung is in the high-risk group (more susceptible to the disease than normal people). Testing for uric acid in the blood is a necessary step to assess the condition early. If the results are within normal limits, it is still advisable to maintain regular monitoring and adjust the diet - limit beer, alcohol, seafood, red meat containing high purines, limit fat, increase exercise, and control weight.

If you have symptoms such as pain, swelling and heat in your joints - especially at night - you should go to a reputable medical facility for timely diagnosis and treatment to avoid more serious complications.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/alo-bac-si-nghe-uong-bia-an-nhieu-hai-san-co-bi-gout-185250601070445109.htm