GOUT AND HOW IT AFFECTS THE GREAT TOE

Gout is a painful form of inflammatory arthritis that affects over eight million Americans according to the national Gout & Uric Acid Education Society. Gout represents a build-up of uric acid in the joints. "It's very similar to the process of making rock candy, where you boil water and add sugar until you can't add anymore," Podiatrist Dr. John Brandeisky explained. "When you super-saturate a solution, it crystallizes as the temperature cools. In the case of gout, conditions in the blood serum lead the joint-lubricating fluid to become high in uric acid.
 
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Dr. John Brandeisky (photo: Russ DeSantis)
 
 
"Because the joint is located farther away from the body's warmer core temperature and is therefore cooler, uric acid crystals form in the joint and are pointy like knives — so pointy that when white blood cells are repeatedly sent to attack these 'foreign' substances, the crystals actually impale and kill the white blood cells," he said. "Gout is the great mimicker of a raging infection around the joint, though it won't respond to antibiotics or get better," he said.
 
Courtesy of Barry Block, editor of PM News.
 
Brought to you by Doctor John A. Hardy, owner of Toronto's foot clinic, Academy Foot and Orthotic Clinics.

 

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