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"Have you recently noticed that you are not interested in what you eat, and your ankles and knees are a little uncomfortable?" was Dr. Zhang's first words to Li Qiang at the North China Central Hospital.
The weather gradually got hotter, and Li Qiang thought it was just the normal summer day, but after a few days, he found that not only did he lose his appetite, but his knees and knuckles also hurt from time to time.
Li Qiang, a programmer who has just passed his first year, usually works under pressure, often works overtime, and uses takeout as his main source of food.
The symptoms lasted for a few weeks before Li Qiang decided to go to the hospital to find out.
After Dr. Zhang's initial examination, he was advised to do a series of blood and uric acid tests.
The results showed that Li Qiang's uric acid level was well above the normal range, which is a typical precursor to gout.
Dr Teo explained that gout is a metabolism-related disease that is usually caused by abnormally elevated levels of uric acid, which is a product of the body's metabolism of purines.
Normally, uric acid is excreted from the body through the kidneys, but when this process is blocked or too much uric acid is produced, urate crystals can form in the joints and soft tissues, triggering gout.
Li's condition is not uncommon in medicine, especially in today's fast-paced, high-stress work environment.
Programmers are more likely to cause gout because they sit in front of the computer for a long time, lack of exercise, and irregular eating habits.
In addition, poor dietary habits, such as frequent intake of high-purine foods (e.g., seafood, red meat, and beer), are also important factors in triggering gout.
Dr Zhang also highlighted an interesting point: while there is plenty of data to support the significant effectiveness of weight control and dietary management in the prevention and control of gout, recent research has found that temperature changes may also have an impact on gout flare-ups.
Studies involving 10,000 people with gout have shown that sudden changes in temperature, especially sudden drops in temperature, increase the risk of gout attacks.
In this study, the risk of gout attacks increased by 30% when the local temperature dropped by more than 10°C in a 24-hour period.
This finding provides a new perspective on prevention for gout patients: in addition to controlling their diet and maintaining a healthy lifestyle, paying attention to the effects of temperature changes on themselves and appropriately increasing or decreasing clothing may also be effective strategies to reduce gout attacks.
After Li Qiang heard this, he couldn't help but be a little surprised, he never thought that weather changes could also affect health.
Dr. Zhang then used the case of another patient, Ms. Wang, to further explain the impact of small details in daily life on gout control.
Ms. Wang, a foodie with a penchant for cooking, has drastically reduced her purine intake by adjusting her recipes and noticed a significant reduction in the frequency of her gout attacks.
Dr Teo emphasises that a proper diet can not only lower uric acid levels, but also improve overall health.
After explaining the medical knowledge of gout in detail, Dr. Cheung advised Li Qiang to make appropriate adjustments to his lifestyle and eating habits, such as increasing physical activity, reducing the intake of high-purine foods, and paying attention to weather changes to prevent future gout attacks.
Although Li Qiang feels a little helpless in the face of many habits that need to be changed, these are necessary for his own health.
At the end of the article, instead of making a summary, I ask a question: given that gout is closely related to lifestyle habits, what are the small details in daily life that seem unrelated but may actually affect gout that deserve our attention?
When answering this question, it is important to take into account that many subtle factors in life, such as sleep quality, psychological stress, and the frequency of personal social activities, etc., may indirectly affect the health of gout patients.
Through an in-depth analysis of these seemingly unrelated details of life, we can understand the complexity and diversity of gout more comprehensively, leading to more effective prevention and treatment measures.
What do you have to say about this? Feel free to leave your thoughts in the comment section!