Do Gout Symptoms Impact Your Kidneys?
While gout symptoms are often linked to the joints, particularly the big toe joint, serious difficulties can occur once injury is done to your renal system. Here we examine the impact of high uric acid levels, and particularly problems linked to the kidneys.
There are many contributing factors in the formation of uric acid crystals. Crystallization occurs when the solution in which a salt such as monosodium urate is suspended becomes too concentrated to permit any more to dissolve. Low pH of the fluid in which the salt is dissolved is also a factor – acidity makes it easier for uric acid to crystallise
Both of these circumstances are found in your renal system!
The primary purpose of the renal system is to get rid of waste from your human body, and, notably, to concentrate that waste before it leaves one’s body. For this reason, in an individual with elevated uric acid levels, the concentration levels get even higher in the kidneys.
Additionally among the activities of the renal system is to remove hydrogen ions from the body. By doing this the fluid inside the kidneys grows more acidic.
As such the conditions within the renal system are perfect for the formation of urate crystals.
Repetitive episodes of acute gouty arthritis, can cause accumulations of urate crystals known as tophi. Tophi also develop in the renal system. If these are not treated these can cause a vicious circle of responses… the tophi can lead to kidney disease and kidney stones which in turn can cause vascular disease and hypertension, which put more stress on the renal system!
In the past there was virtually no medicine available to handle high uric acid levels in the system, and gout patients whose kidneys were damaged would move swiftly to kidney failure and probably loss of life
Today of course we have drugs to take care of hyperuricaemia, although these can have some pretty serious side effects, including dermatitis, hypersensitivity, diarrhoaea, nausea, vomiting and hair loss.
Tags: gout kidneys, gout pain, gout symptoms, uric acid