1. Diet Plays a Major Role
Hyperuricemia, the metabolic condition that brings on painful episodes of gout, is a disease based on diet. Whenever diets become too high in protein, purine or fructose, levels of uric acid in the blood get higher and higher. Once those levels reach a certain point, an attack of gout becomes imminent. In fact, gout is the primary symptom of hyperuricemia. People who eat a lot of meat or products with high-fructose corn syrup are prime candidates for developing this condition. Starvation can also cause hyperuricemia. As the muscles begin to waste away due to lack of food, they release many of their stored nutrients, such as protein and purine. This raises the levels of these substances in the blood, which causes levels of uric acid to rise, leading to hyperuricemia.
2. Humans Can't Degrade Uric Acid
Unlike many waste products in the blood that are broken down into safe substances by enzymes, uric acid will not degrade in the human blood stream. Humans lack the enzyme necessary to degrade uric acid, so it must always be excreted through the kidneys in its original form. However, when levels of uric acid get too high through improper diet, the kidneys become overwhelmed with the job of getting rid of it. Uric acid backs up in the system, leading to hyperuricemia and sometimes gout.
3. Hyperuricemia Can Have Serious Complications
The prospect of getting gout is unpleasant enough to cause most people to attempt to change their diets. However, hyperuricemia can do more than just make your big toe hurt (a common joint to be affected). If levels of uric acid in the blood become too high, the kidneys may become overloaded with this toxic waste product and shut down. When renal failure like this occurs, the medical choices are pretty grim. Dialysis or a kidney transplant are usually the only options if a change in diet fails to get the kidneys working again. While kidney function can sometimes be rescued by reducing protein, purine and fructose intake, the possibility of this happening depends on how much uric acid was present in the system, and for how long.
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