Gout is just one of the many forms of arthritis, an affection of the joints that can be found in millions of people. Gout may be the most encountered type of arthritis, and it manifests as an attack that almost always shows up at night . The affected joint is the one that can be found in the big toe in most cases , (the big toe's ball) but gout could affect one of the joints from the ankles too. Untreated gout can start to appear more and more often and they will spread to other joints. In this situation treatment is required, because gout can become chronic gout and cripple the joints.

Gout appears to people who have an abundance of uric acid in their body. Uric acid is produced from the food which is digested and decomposed into its basic elements which are absorbed by the body. Sometimes there is too much uric acid in the blood. This uric acid starts to crystallize in the joints and causes irritation and inflammation and soon, gout occurs. Hence, the cause of gout is an enormous amount of uric acid in the blood.

But what can cause the level of uric acid found in the blood to raise above the normal limit? This might be caused by obesity, certain types of medication, or too much alcohol consumption.

What's the best way to know how to treat gout?

If you want to prevent or treat gout then you must reduce the levels of uric acid from the blood. You can do this by changing your diet so that it doesn't contain the types of food that have purines, substances that raises the uric acid level. Red meat, peas, liver and shellfish are foods that have a lot of purines in them. So you should eat very little of the above mentioned foods.

Medication is available that can lower the amount of uric acid from the body but unless the doctor tells you to, don't take any of this type of medication.

So if you have been afflicted with a gout attack visit your doctor soon and listen carefully to his advice. You will be given some medication that you have to take every day and you will need to change your diet to reduce the uric acid from the blood. If you do so you won't have any issues with gout again.