In this week's video we're looking at gout we're going to look at how to get rid of it
and most importantly we're going to look at how to prevent it so what are we waiting for
let's do this okay so first let's begin with the science and i know what you're thinking a lot of
you probably thinking let's just get straight to those tips let's get straight to how to treat it
but it's really important you first understand why we get gap because all of this is going to
help for when we're talking about treatments and when we're talking about preventative tips so it's
super important that you listen to this bit but if you already know all about gout and the science
behind it i'm going to leave your timestamp here or here and also in the description below you
can click to go straight to the treatment tips and the preventive tips so first of all what is
gap gout is a type of inflammatory arthritis where we get pain and swelling in our joints
like our fingers like our toes sometimes when we get gout it can also be red and hot to touch
on that area now gout comes on suddenly and when it does come on suddenly we call this a flare-up
or we call it a bout of gown or we call it a gout attack they all mean the same thing because it's
a sudden flare-up so the next question is what actually causes the gout well uric acid is one of
the main causes so when we eat foods such as meat and tuna our body breaks them down into purines
these purines are then broken down into uric acid and then unfortunately the uric acid forms crystal
like crystallizes in our joints so this uric acid can damage our joints and it can even cause kidney
stones so it can cause a few different problems now gout is more likely in women it's also more
likely to happen to you as you get older there is also a genetic link so if someone in your
family has gout you're probably more likely to get it in the future however please remember
actually let me fix this that's better please remember that gout isn't something that you
can really diagnose yourself please make an appointment to speak to your healthcare
professional first so they can actually diagnose gout for you because many different things and
many different conditions have similar symptoms to gout for example you might actually have an
infection that looks very similar to gout which will need examining and testing so it's super
important if you think you might have gout make an appointment to speak to a healthcare
professional so they can do the examinations and they can do the tests to find out exactly
what is wrong okay so we're now getting to the fun bits you've been to your healthcare professional
you've got gal so what can you do so the first thing that i always recommend to patients
is ride it out and by ride it out i don't mean drive a car remember the words ride ah rest
i ice d for drink water and e is elevate now we're going to walk up these steps for each scene
with a different tip now before we go through each tip and up the steps i thought i'd explain
right out slightly more because i feel like i didn't give much information so rest is pretty
normal everyone knows what rest is ice get an ice pack get a pack of frozen peas whatever you have
wrap it in the tea towel place it on the area for about five minutes next up we have drink
water and that's going to help flush the uric acid out and lastly we have elevate so you want to keep
the area elevated to increase the blood flow going through that area to stop the uric acid
from accumulating in that one area okay moving on to tip number two and i hope this isn't too shaky
adults can use ibuprofen and it's going to help with the swelling in the area and the pain it's
going to help with all of that so ibuprofen is fine to use for the gout but please remember
always speak to your healthcare professional first to make sure that you're safe and suitable to take
that medication because ibuprofen can interact with many different people's medications it can
cause many different side effects so make sure that you speak to your healthcare professional
first before you take it that is the most important thing and always read the information
that comes with it okay moving on to tip number three if you're still suffering from pain and
any swelling remember visit your healthcare professional make an appointment speak to them
because there are various different prescription prescription-only medications available
which help with gout such as steroids such as anti-gout tablets and gout preventative tablets
there's loads of different options so make sure to make an appointment now tip number four relate
slightly to tip number three that we spoke about but if gout is constantly bothering you and you're
getting it multiple times in a year please do make an appointment to speak to your healthcare
professional like i said earlier there are medicines available that prevent you from
getting gout which are uric acid lowering tablets they're available and if it's bothering you and
causing you trouble please make an appointment to speak to them because like i said earlier there's
various different treatment options available that will suit you okay so we're done with treatments
you're now a pro at treating gout but next up we have preventative tips probably the most important
part of this video because self-care can have a massive impact so please do listen up okay so
you're more likely to suffer from gout if you have uncontrolled high blood pressure high cholesterol
diabetes heart failure poor renal functions a poor kidney function now i do have quite a few videos
on for example blood pressure cholesterol diabetes and i'll link them in the description below
but these conditions need to be fully controlled if you have them so speak to your healthcare
professional and make sure they are fully controlled and make sure they're routinely
being investigated and checked up on to make sure that they're fully controlled and this is going
to reduce your risk of gout okay so next up are you overweight because if you're overweight it
can increase your risk of gout now the best way to check this is checking something called bmi which
i will leave a link to in the description below if you are interested in losing weight i do have
quiet videos on how to lose weight done from a study in oxford and it's really really good and
it's helped loads of people so if you haven't seen it i will leave a link to it up here
and in the description below but also apart from that eating a healthy balanced diet and eating
foods which aren't high in fats all of these again can help prevent gal there are certain foods which
are high in purines as well such as red meat such as tuna so eating these sparingly can help
to reduce your risk of having a gout attack now i'm going to leave a full list where i'm going to
leave a link to it in the description below of all the different foods and their purity amounts it's
a really useful article and i'd highly recommend everyone reads it if gout is something that you
suffer from okay guys it's time to debunk some myths and it's time to have a coffee too because i
am very thirsty i'm quite tired now first of all eating cherries now it's said that it reduces
uric acid levels but there just isn't enough evidence to prove that it actually does this
and it helps with gout next up do you take diuretics otherwise known as water tablets
if you're not sure speak to your pharmacist and check with them diuretics can increase our chances
of getting gout so if you are taking a diuretic and you're getting gout flare-ups all the time
this could be a cause but please remember do not stop any prescribed medication without consulting
your healthcare professional first this is just a little trigger point that i want you to think of
and if you do take a diuretic and you're having loads of gout flare-ups speak to your healthcare
professional about it also please consider cutting back on alcoholic beverages and certain
fruit juices all of these can make gout worse and make you more prone to having a flare-up
so instead try and drink water it's healthy it's it's low in calories and it doesn't cause gout
smoking can also make out worse so if you do smoke and you haven't quit yet then you have to quit and
if you haven't seen my how to quit smoking video yet what are you waiting for head over to it right
now and get those tips and quit smoking today and last but not least maintain good joint health you
can do this quite easily by regularly doing low impact exercises such as walking and such
as swimming there's loads of different things that you can do so i will leave a full list
in the description below give it a read see which ones that you can incorporate into your lifestyles
that my friend is the end of this week's video you are now a gal pro you now know all
about treatments you know about prevention you know about the myths you know about everything
so tell your friends tell your family tell your loved ones tell everyone because you're a gal pro
so i really hope you find this information helpful leave a comment below let us know how
you get on and if you have any of your own tips leave a comment too because i'd love to read it
and i'm sure everyone watching this video would too that's the end of this week's video always
remember you're awesome and i will see you next week oh yeah baby i will see you all next week
with my coffee hey guys thanks for watching this week's video make sure to click that
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