High uric acid level in blood

High uric acid level in blood

High uric acid level in blood, a most common health problem found in new generation people

Hyperuricemia is an excess of uric acid in the blood. Uric acid passes through the liver, and enters your bloodstream. Most of it is excreted (removed from your body) in your urine, or passes through your intestines to regulate “normal” levels.

Normal Uric acid levels are 2.4-6.0 mg/dL (female) and 3.4-7.0 mg/dL (male).  Normal values will vary from laboratory to laboratory.

Also important to blood uric acid levels are purines.  Purines are nitrogen-containing compounds, which are made inside the cells of your body (endogenous), or come from outside of your body, from foods containing purine (exogenous).  Purine breaks down into uric acid. Increased levels of uric acid from excess purines may accumulate in your tissues, and form crystals. This may cause high uric acid levels in the blood.

If the kidneys do not eliminate the uric acid properly or if there is an excessive intake of high-purine foods, uric acid begins to crystallize. This crystallized uric acid settles in the kidneys and forms kidney stones or settles into joints and causes a form of arthritis called gout. Symptoms vary between individuals, depending on the severity of the condition. Some people with high levels of uric acid may not experience any symptoms.

Joint Symptoms

Common joint symptoms of gout include pain, inflammation, swelling, redness and tenderness when touched.  The joint may also feel hot. These symptoms usually begin suddenly at night.

Commonly Affected Joints

The first gout attack typically occurs in the big toe, according to the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases. Additional joints in the body commonly affected by gout include the ankles, knees, heels, fingers, elbows and wrists. With the first gout attack, it is common for a person to experience symptoms in one joint, while subsequent attacks may involve more joints.

Duration of Joint Symptoms

The intense pain in the joint usually peaks in severity within the first 12 to 24 hours following the start of the symptoms. Once the most severe pain eases, discomfort in the joint may linger for several days to a few weeks. Attacks that occur later may cause pain to continue longer than the first gout attack. Without proper treatment or with repeated attacks, the uric acid may cause permanent damage to the joint.

Skin Symptoms

After years of repeated gout attacks, uric acid crystals may begin to form lumps beneath the skin. These nonpainful lumps, called tophi, commonly occur on the fingers, toes, hands and elbows. During an attack, the tophi may become swollen and tender.

Kidney Symptoms

If the uric acid crystals settle in the urinary tract, they cause kidney stones. Uric acid kidney stones are more common in men than women. Kidney stones may cause symptoms such as pain in the back, abdomen or groin, fever, chills, nausea, vomiting and bloody urine.

Causes of high uric acid level

A high uric acid level can be caused when your body either produces too much uric acid or your kidneys don’t eliminate uric acid rapidly enough.

A high uric acid level may cause increasingly frequent attacks of gout, or it may never cause problems. A high uric acid level may also cause some people to develop kidney stones or kidney failure. And some people with a high uric acid level also develop high blood pressure, heart disease or chronic kidney disease, but it’s often unclear whether this is a direct cause or merely an early warning sign of these conditions.

Factors that may cause a high uric acid level in your blood include:

·     Diuretic medications (water pills)

·     Drinking too much alcohol

·     Genetics (inherited tendencies)

·     Hypothyroidism (underactive thyroid)

·     Immune-suppressing drugs

·     Niacin, or vitamin B-3

·     Obesity

·     Psoriasis

·     Purine-rich diet — organ meat, game meat, anchovies, herring, gravy, dried beans, dried peas, mushrooms and other foods

·     Renal insufficiency — inability of the kidneys to filter waste

·     Tumor lysis syndrome — a rapid release of cells into the blood caused by certain cancers or by chemotherapy for those cancers

Also, you may be monitored for high uric acid levels when undergoing chemotherapy or radiation treatment for cancer.

Foods that are high in purine include:

·     All organ meats (such as liver), meat extracts and gravy

·     Yeasts, and yeast extracts (such as beer, and alcoholic beverages)

·     Asparagus, spinach, beans, peas, lentils, oatmeal, cauliflower and mushrooms

New studies have proved that uric acid is a potent antioxidant

Over half the antioxidant capacity of human blood plasma is derived from uric acid. It is is fifty-fold stronger antioxidant than vitamin C. So, if we consider vitamin C to be a good player, we must consider uric acid as fifty times as good. Why is this fact not generally known? The answer: no drug company or medical journal profits from disseminating this information.

Uric Acid Facilitates Cross-talk Between Dead and Living cells

Uric acid is a principal endogenous danger signal released from dead and dying cells. This basic but generally unrecognized fact of uric acid biology calls for a major shift in the way we look at it. Uric acid stimulates a type of immune cell (dendritic cell) to its maturation. When such cells are injected along with certain substances in experimental animals, another type of immune cell (CD8+ T cell) becomes stronger in its responses to microbes and noxious chemicals. In other experiments, removal of uric acid weakens certain types of immune responses, indicating immune- boosting effects of uric acid.

Why do blood uric acid levels rise?

What might be the basis of observed association between raised uric acid levels and increased risks of insulin resistance, diabetes, heart attacks, and strokes?

Uric acid is produced by the enzyme, xanthine oxidase, from xanthine and hypoxanthine, which in turn are produced from purine. Evolutionary design for the redox systems in living organisms is simple: if you increase oxidative stress, the antioxidant systems are upregulated. When the body is insulted by the trio of toxicities of foods, environments, and thoughts—the trio that sets the stage for insulin toxicity, the so-called metabolic syndrome, heart attacks, strokes, and gouty arthritis—the body gears up its antioxidant defenses. Uric acid, a potent weapon in the body’s antioxidant armamentarium, is produced in excess to cope with incremental oxidative stress. So, the blood uric acid levels go up. It is not the body’s cries for drugs, only for relief from the trio of toxicities.

Prevention and Treatment of Gout

Inflammation in acute gout arthritis is caused by the trio of toxicities of foods, environments, and thoughts. The rational and scientific approach to the prevention and treatment of gout is to systematically identify and address all relevant elements of toxicity. In decades of clinical work, I have not found any natural remedy that by itself gives good long-term results. My preferred therapies are: (1) castor-pres; (2) hydrogen peroxide foot soaks; (3) optimal hydration; (4) control of gut fermentation and leaky gut state; (5) and liver detox. Some dietary measures are very helpful. Uric acid is derived from compounds called purines, which are found in large amounts in animal food products, such as liver, kidneys, and sardines. Lesser amounts are in pork, beef, poultry, seafood, and certain vegetables (asparagus, cauliflower, spinach, mushrooms, and green peas), and certain grains (oatmeal, wheat bran and wheat germ). So, it is advisable to eliminate these items during acute attacks, and reduce their intake in general.

In drug medicine, symptoms are managed with nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), steroids, and colchicine. These approaches can be justified only in unusual circumstances for short periods of time to relieve acute symptoms that cannot be rapidly controlled with nondrug therapies.

Natural methods to reduce high uric acid levels

Potassium-rich Foods

Foods high in potassium alkalize the blood and urine and prevent the formation of uric acid, according to Dr. Theodore Baroody in “Alkalize or Die.” One of the easiest remedies to lower high uric acid levels is to add more potassium-rich foods to your diet. Foods high in potassium can be found in all the food groups and include dark fishes like salmon, mackerel, clams, sardines, tuna and trout, according to the National Institutes of Health.

Cantaloupe, bananas, mangoes, papaya, raisins, orange, pears and prunes top the list of high-potassium fruits are found beneficial to reduce high uric acid levels. A list of vegetables including avocado, potato, asparagus, mushrooms and sweet potatoes also can be tried for reducing gout.

Reduce Protein Consumption

Reducing the consumption of animal proteins can lower uric-acid levels, says the University of Maryland Medical Center. Animal proteins are primarily responsible for the dietary increase in uric acid levels due to their breakdown into purines. These are protein byproducts that further degrade into uric acid. Specific foods to avoid to that may help remedy uric acid levels include all red meats, organ meats, shellfish and poultry.

Baking Soda

Drinking a mixture of 1/2 tsp. baking soda and 8 oz. water may help lower uric acid levels in some people. Baking soda alkalizes the blood and urine, preventing uric acid crystals from forming. Uric acid remains in suspension in the blood and urine in an alkaline environment and is easily eliminated through urination. Baking soda can raise the blood pressure, so individuals taking medicines to treat high blood pressure should consult with their health practitioner before using it for this purpose.

To use cherry juice as a natural remedy for high uric acid levels, consume one to two servings (approximately 1 1/4 cup) of pure, tart cherry juice first thing in the morning.

The recipe for curing gout

This recipe is supposed to be from a Professor Lai of the China School of Pharmacy. It is in three simple, easy steps.

1.  Cut green papaya into small cubes.

2.  Put the cubes in a pot of water, and put to boil.

3.  Then add green tea leaves to make tea.

Drink this combination tea two times a day is found effective for reducing uric acid level and gout.