Our body metabolizes "garbage" every day, and uric acid is one of them, which requires the kidneys and intestines to be transported away at regular intervals.
Once "garbage" accumulates in the body, it will increase uric acid, which in turn will cause gout. In the case of transporting "garbage", there are obvious differences between men and women's bodies.
Large-scale epidemiological surveys show that gout is more male-oriented, with a male-to-female ratio of about 15:1. In adults aged 35 to 79 years, the standardized prevalence of hyperuricemia is 13.5%, and the prevalence of males is higher than that of women, reaching 17.3%.
Gout, why do you like to torture men? Life Times (search for "LT0385" in WeChat to follow) interviews authoritative experts to tell you the answer and recommend a scientific gout prevention plan.
Experts interviewed
Gao Mingsong, chief physician of the Department of Endocrinology, Wuhan First Hospital
Chen Qiqi, deputy chief physician of the Department of Rheumatology and Immunology of Sichuan Provincial People's Hospital
Dong Lingli, chief physician of the Department of Rheumatology and Immunology, Tongji Hospital, Huazhong University of Science and Technology
Gout, why do you like to torture men?
At present, the pathogenesis of gout is not very clear, but it is more certain that hyperuricemia is one of the causes of gout.
Uric acid is a metabolite of purines, there is no physiological effect in the human body, under normal circumstances, 2/3 of the uric acid produced in the body is excreted by the kidneys, and 1/3 is excreted from the intestine.
The uric acid contained in the blood of normal people should be less than 420 micromoles per liter per liter of blood, and less than 357 micromoles per liter per liter of females. When the body has metabolic disorders, resulting in increased synthesis or decreased excretion of uric acid, it will cause hyperuricemia, which in turn will cause gout.
Why is gout more male-oriented? Simply put, this is determined by the level of hormones in the body.
Estrogen helps promote the excretion of uric acid by the kidneys and reduces blood uric acid levels, so women have a congenital advantage in fighting hyperuricemia.
The dominant thing in the male body is androgens, androgens will inhibit the kidneys' excretion of uric acid, resulting in a decrease in the metabolic efficiency of uric acid, accelerating the formation and deposition of uric acid crystals, and more likely to attract gout.
3 factors about gout risk
At present, about 120 million people in the mainland have the problem of high blood uric acid, but most of them are ignored, until one day the patient's toes are suddenly red and swollen, the pain is unbearable, can not walk on the ground, seriously affecting daily activities, only to learn that the disease has progressed to the point of gout.
A key step in the development of hyperuricemia into gout is the crystallization of urate, which is affected by a number of factors:
High purine diet
A high-purine diet is a predisposing factor for acute gout in both men and women.
Low temperature environment
Different temperatures of water can dissolve not as many salts. Similarly, the solubility of urate in the body is also affected by temperature.
In areas where the temperature of the body is low, such as the feet, or at night when the temperature is low, the body dissolves relatively little urate, and it is easy to precipitate urate crystals.
Because of this, gout is more likely to occur at night and at the big toe.
pH
When the pH of body fluids is low, urate crystals are more likely to form. The following factors can cause the pH of body fluids to be low:
Excessive, strenuous activity leads to accumulation of metabolites such as local lactate;
Excessive consumption of meat, meat after metabolism eventually formed nitrogen, carbon and other acid products;
Drugs such as aspirin, as well as chronic kidney disease, diabetes, etc., may cause acid products to accumulate in the body.
How to avoid uric acid out of control?
Gout is one of the few diseases that can be cured, but the recurrence rate is high. According to statistics, after the first attack of gout, more than 50% of patients can relapse within one year, and only 7% of patients have no recurrence for a long time.
For people whose uric acid is often "out of control", it is crucial to control food purine intake. What should and should not be eaten?
The average person's normal dietary intake of 600 to 1000 mg of purines per day, the intake of purines during the acute onset of gout should be controlled within 150 mg; the dietary principle of low purines should also be followed during the remission period, but the restrictions can be relaxed slightly.
Rheumatologists give preventive advice
Prevention of gout can not be urgent, both medication and lifestyle control.
Adjust your diet
Against the table above, reduce your intake of high-purine foods. In addition, when cooking meat products, it is recommended to cut the meat into slices or shreds, blanch the water before proceeding to the next step of cooking, which will help reduce purine intake. In addition, gout patients eat meat with fresh vegetables, which can accelerate urate dissolution.
Drink 2000 ml of water per day
Adequate drinking water can increase uric acid excretion, it is recommended to drink at least 2000 ml of water per day, but renal insufficiency or cardiopulmonary abnormalities should limit the intake of water according to the condition.
Maintain a healthy weight
Blind weight loss may lead to disorders in female estrogen secretion, and if the intake of protein, vitamins and various trace elements is significantly reduced, it is not conducive to the maintenance of normal body functions.
Fitness gurus should control the amount of exercise
Excessive activity and intensity may lead to the production of more purines in the body, it is recommended that athletes control the intensity of exercise, especially those with a family history of gout. ▲
Editor of this issue: Zheng Ronghua