The cause of gout is a violation of metabolic processes in the body. The consequences are the deposition of salts, which lead to problems with joints and kidneys. The excretory system works worse, and the concentration of uric acid in the blood increases. Over time, it crystallizes around the joints and causes pain and inflammation. Arthritis most often affects the feet and toes, and the attacks of the disease are very painful. Patients are forced to follow a strict diet, so it is very important to know whether it is possible to drink alcohol with gout, and if so, what kind.
Content
- General description of the disease 1.1. Principles of treatment
- Can you drink alcohol if you have gout?
- The effect of alcohol on gout: risk factors 3.1. What to do if you have uncontrollable cravings for alcohol
Gout is one of the most common causes of acute arthritis. Over the past few decades, experts have noted a steady increase in morbidity, which is associated with the influence of various factors, including the widespread prevalence of cardiovascular pathologies, obesity, a decrease in the quality of food consumed, and an unfavorable environmental situation. Alcohol addiction also plays a significant role. According to experts, alcohol in gout is one of the serious risk factors for the development of both the disease itself and exacerbation during remission.
Relationship with moonshine for diabetes
Diabetes mellitus is a disease in which a person’s metabolism in the body is disrupted, and, as a result, concomitant diseases and ailments may appear: weakness, problems with the skin, and vision. Diabetes occurs due to a lack of your own natural insulin and an excess of glucose. As a rule, diabetes requires a strict diet and limiting the amount of sugar and alcohol consumed. Many people are reassured that diabetes is not a death sentence, but a way of life. It's a little different from what it was before, but you can adapt to everything.
Doctors do not recommend that diabetics drink alcohol. Strong drinks can harm:
- develops liver pathology;
- causes hypoglycemia;
- affects overall well-being;
- increases fat deposition;
- worsens the course of chronic diseases.
For diabetes mellitus, medications are prescribed on an ongoing basis and, as a rule, these drugs are not compatible with alcohol. Despite this, in rare cases, experts may give the green light to drinking strong drinks. But these doses must be carefully controlled. The advantage is on the side of moonshine and vodka: they have the least amount of additives.
General description of the disease
The pathology is based on hyperuricemia - an increase in the synthesis of uric acid or the accelerated breakdown of nucleotide compounds with the formation of urates and a simultaneous decrease in their excretion by the kidneys. In addition to hereditary metabolic characteristics, the main causes of urea accumulation include:
- congenital or acquired pathologies of the hematopoietic system (leukemia, polycythemia, etc.), anemia, coagulation disorders;
- malignant tumors regardless of their location;
- some previous infections (mononucleosis, etc.);
- chronic kidney pathologies;
- uncontrolled use of diuretics, corticosteroids and some other drugs;
- heavy metal intoxication;
- thyroid diseases;
- regular, too intense physical activity, etc.
The disease occurs in several stages:
- Despite the beginning of metabolic disorders, there are no external manifestations of the disease.
- Attacks of acute gouty arthritis are typical, with the first metatarsophalangeal joint (big toe) being primarily affected. Inflammation develops due to the formation of urea crystals, which provoke a massive release of pro-inflammatory factors (cytokines, lytic enzymes, etc.). The onset of the attack is acute (symptoms develop literally within a few hours), usually after injury, infection, stress, eating purine-rich foods and drinking.
- Chronic gouty arthropathy develops. There is a generalization of the inflammatory process with the involvement of new joints and their deformation. The interictal period is shortened. Tophi (local accumulations of urates) gradually form on the skin, in the area of the fingers, knee joints, and feet. The eyelids and wings of the nose may also be affected.
Principles of treatment
The basis of therapy is a properly selected diet. You should completely avoid (or at least limit) the use of:
- meat by-products;
- fatty fish;
- fish and meat broths (and, accordingly, soups based on them);
- sausages;
- legumes, greens;
- sweets;
- carbonated drinks, strong tea and coffee.
The basis of the diet should be dairy and fermented milk products, vegetables (except for radishes, cabbage), fruit, boiled or steamed lean meat or fish, seafood, eggs. In case of exacerbation, drugs are used to normalize purine metabolism and reduce the level of uric acid, NSAIDs.
How to help your joints
As a rule, completely abstaining from alcohol helps to correct the situation and prevent serious consequences. If you are planning a one-time event, you can protect yourself by following these recommendations:
- Along with alcoholic beverages, drink as much regular liquid as possible, such as purified water;
- consume something from this list of foods with alcohol: cabbage, greens, cucumbers, lettuce, nuts, dried fruits, dairy products.
This combination will help replenish the reserves of potassium, magnesium, calcium and phosphorus, and also prevent intoxication that is dangerous to the body.
If, despite giving up alcohol, you still regularly experience joint pain, consult an orthopedist. Perhaps the disease has reached a dangerous stage and requires not only preventive, but also therapeutic measures. Intra-articular injections of Noltrex, a synthetic substitute for synovial fluid, help to cope well with the symptoms of arthrosis. However, to consolidate the result, it will never be superfluous to reconsider your lifestyle, give up bad habits and tune in for the best!
Can you drink alcohol if you have gout?
For a long time, it was alcohol in combination with excess eating that was considered the only cause of the disease. And although today the polyetiological nature of the disease is no longer in doubt, experts are convinced that drinking has an even worse effect on its course than errors in diet. It is believed that about half of exacerbations occur due to alcohol consumption.
The negative effect of alcohol on gout is due to changes in kidney function, increased reabsorption of urates and, accordingly, hyperuricemia. In addition, with regular violation of the doctor's ban on drinking, the metabolism of some biologically active compounds (in particular, adenosine triphosphate - ATP) changes, which is accompanied by serious pathological changes in purine metabolism.
Ethanol also affects the pharmacokinetic parameters of medications used to treat the disease. For example, in patients who regularly drink, the concentration of Allopurinol in the blood is lower (even when taken in the dose prescribed by the doctor) than is necessary to achieve the required therapeutic effect.
Data from clinical studies allow us to answer the question about the effect of individual alcoholic beverages on the course of the disease. Thus, it has been proven that the maximum increase in urea concentration occurs after drinking beer, and in women this toxic effect is more pronounced than in men. It has been established that drunkenness greatly increases the risk of concomitant cardiovascular disorders.
The fact is that standard beers, in addition to alcohol themselves, contain purines (about 8–10 mg per 100 ml). Most likely, the metabolism of purine bases causes hyperproduction of urate.
The opinion of doctors regarding what kind of alcohol is suitable for gout is ambiguous. On the one hand, wine does not cause such a pronounced increase in uric acid levels (naturally, we are talking about high-quality, natural varieties). But on the other hand, a 10-year observation of patients suffering from hyperuricemia demonstrated that even occasional drinking in moderate quantities provokes an exacerbation.
The mechanism of alcohol's effect on joints
Along with alcoholic drinks, adrenaline and dopamine enter the human body, which contribute to the exacerbation of inflammation already existing in the tissues. The level of potassium in the blood sharply decreases, and swelling appears.
Due to alcohol intoxication:
- in the periarticular bursa the pressure of the synovial fluid increases;
- receptors responsible for pain are activated;
- a product of ethanol metabolism is released - acetaldehyde, which negatively affects cell walls, changes membrane permeability, unnaturally accelerates intracellular metabolism and forces cells to work at their limit.
In practice, this manifests itself in pain, crunching in the joints, tissue swelling, inflammation, and first of all, the joints of the knees suffer, which means that the person feels the most discomfort from limited mobility.
Alcohol is dangerous for the entire body - for the brain, heart, liver, musculoskeletal system... But only a few understand and realize how destructive its power is:
The effect of alcohol on gout: risk factors
In addition to the negative impact of alcohol on the pathogenetic mechanisms of disease progression, systematic drinking also leads to:
- non-compliance with the diet or medication regimen prescribed by the doctor;
- obesity;
- regular episodes of dehydration (typical of binge drinking)
- increased risk of damage to the heart muscle and kidneys (doctors emphasize that renal failure due to gouty arthritis is fatal in 20% of cases);
- arterial hypertension;
- pathologies of the gastrointestinal tract, which makes it difficult to use non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs - one of the main drugs for alleviating arthralgia.
What to do if you have uncontrollable cravings for alcohol
Even in the absence of other diseases, a pathological craving for strong drinks is a good reason to consult a narcologist. In case of gouty arthritis and concomitant diseases, drugs for anti-alcohol coding are used with caution. But even if there are contraindications to this method of treating alcoholism, doctors will select a completely safe way to get rid of addiction (for example, psychotherapy, hypnotic blocking). Effective rehabilitation programs will also help you cope with drunkenness.
Each person is individual, so it is simply impossible to establish a “safe minimum” amount of drinking. And in all international recommendations and treatment protocols there is a clear answer to the question of whether it is possible to drink alcohol for gout - any alcohol-containing drinks are strictly contraindicated. In addition, doctors emphasize that the success of therapy largely depends not on the medications taken, but on diet.
How does alcohol affect cartilage?
Constant or periodic intake of alcohol into the body, even in moderate doses, negatively affects metabolic processes. Cartilage is forced to work harder, so it wears out faster and becomes thinner, which leads to friction between exposed bones. Additional alcohol intoxication again and again contributes to this process - sooner or later a person will need treatment for arthrosis or osteoarthritis.
If the situation is not brought under control, complications may develop - inflammation of the synovial membrane (synovitis), and then arthritis. But this is not all the forecasts. Due to compression of areas of the epiphyses that are not protected by cartilage, bone ischemia occurs - the joints do not receive enough blood supply and oxygen, so over time the bone tissue is destroyed and aseptic necrosis is diagnosed. This process is long (3-5 years), but against the background of constant alcohol consumption it often becomes irreversible.
Alcohol intake leads to the deposition of salts - insoluble urates - in the joint capsule
Literature:
- Zhelyabina O.V., Eliseev M.S. Diet for gout and hyperuricemia. — Scientific and practical rheumatology, 2021. — 55(4).
- Gromova M.A., Tsurko V.V., Melekhina A.S. A rationally based approach to nutrition in patients with gout. — Clinician, 2021. — 3–4, volume 13.
- Khitrov. ON THE. Gout is the queen of diseases and the disease of kings (10 commandments of gout). - Medical Council, 2012. - No. 3.
- Barskova V.G., Eliseev M.S., Nasonova V.A., Nasonov E.L. Alcohol and the clinical picture of patients with gout. - Modern rheumatology, 2007. - No. 1.
The text was checked by expert doctors: Head of the socio-psychological service of the Alkoklinik MC, psychologist Yu.P. Baranova, L.A. Serova, a psychiatrist-narcologist.
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The effect of moonshine at high blood pressure
Moonshine affects each person who drinks it differently. It all depends on the quantity and quality of the alcoholic drink. The body is designed in such a way that when drinking strong alcohol, blood vessels dilate and blood pressure decreases. People with high blood pressure can only benefit from this, but there are pitfalls here too. If they exceed the prescribed dose, the pressure will rise again. This will be indicated by tinnitus.
Moonshine can be drunk with high blood pressure within acceptable limits: 50-100 ml per day. If moonshine itself causes high blood pressure, then its use should be completely avoided for at least a month. Such abstinence will restore balance and bring blood pressure back to normal.
Male disease
If a gout attack has already occurred, then the disease cannot be completely cured. People with gout are prescribed painkillers and anti-inflammatory drugs, as well as medications that reduce the amount of uric acid, to relieve symptoms. However, patients with this diagnosis must constantly monitor their diet. They are prohibited from alcohol, canned and salted foods, coffee, strong tea, legumes, offal, mushrooms and broths. Significantly reduce the consumption of fatty foods, especially combined fats, which are used in the preparation of fast food. And the meat content in the diet is reduced to a minimum. It is not recommended to completely eliminate protein, since the body needs it for cellular renewal. At the same time, in order to remove excess uric acid, gout sufferers need to drink a lot - fruit and berry juices, fruit drinks and mineral water.
“It is worth emphasizing that gout in the 21st century is extremely rare in young people,” says the doctor. – Basically, this disease begins to manifest itself from the age of 40–50 in men and from the age of 60 in women. Men are more susceptible to gout because, unlike women, they practically do not monitor their diet and pay less attention to their health.”
According to Yulia Palamarchuk, everyone who is at risk is advised to monitor their weight, since obesity is another factor contributing to the development of gout. This is confirmed by statistical data. For example, in the USA, where the percentage of people who are overweight is much higher than in Europe, people suffer from gout twice as often.
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