General health examination can detect gout early

This is an automatically translated article.

The article was professionally consulted with Doctor Vo Ha Bang Suong - General Internal Medicine - Department of Examination & Internal Medicine - Vinmec Phu Quoc International General Hospital.
Inappropriate lifestyle and lifestyle is the cause of the increase in the number of people with gout. Accordingly, early detection of gout is important, helping patients receive timely treatment and prevent dangerous complications that may occur.

1. Who is at high risk of gout?

Socio-economic development is growing, people's living standards are improved, but the lifestyle and improper nutrition are causing the rate of gout sufferers in the population to increase. The risk of gout is increased in people who have a diet high in protein and seafood, drink a lot of alcohol, are obese, and have high blood pressure. The risk of gout appears more in men and the elderly, but in post-menopausal women, if the lifestyle and nutrition are not reasonable, there is also a high risk of gout.
Gout, also known as gout, is a disease formed by a disorder of purine metabolism with the main characteristic being hyperuricemia. When uric acid in the blood increases, it accumulates over time and forms small crystals of sodium urate crystals. These crystals concentrate in the joints causing painful swelling and inflammation for the patient.
Gout usually begins with acute attacks of gout that cause severe pain in the joints, especially common in the big toe joint, but can also occur in other joints such as ankles, knees, feet, Hand joints, wrists,... Acute gout attacks can last for a few days or weeks and then can be relieved. But if left untreated, acute gout attacks will become more frequent and can cause joint destruction and disability.
There are many causes of gout such as because the kidneys can't excrete uric acid, because the body produces too much uric acid (the patient eats a lot of purine-containing foods, drinks a lot of alcohol, has diseases that increase cell destruction such as polycythemia vera). bone marrow tumor, hemolytic anemia, chronic kidney failure, ..) or due to abnormality in the production of uric acid in the body.
Early detection of gout is extremely important, because in addition to the risk of destroying joints leading to disability, gout can also cause many other dangerous complications such as:
Tophi blocks are formed in joints due to the accumulation of many sodium urate crystals, these blocks will become larger and larger, compressing blood vessels and nerves, causing vascular and peripheral nerve diseases. If the tophi is broken, it will make the wound difficult to heal, the risk of infection is high, and in some cases, it will lead to amputation. Kidney stones: About 20% of gout patients have kidney stones due to the deposition of urate crystals as well as calcium crystals that cause stones. Kidney stones can lead to urinary tract obstruction, urinary tract infections, impaired kidney function,... Urate crystals can cause inflammation of the endocardium, causing damage to the heart muscle. Urate crystals can also be deposited in atherosclerotic plaques in the blood vessels, causing damage to blood vessels, reducing circulation, clogging blood vessels, endangering the patient's life. If gout is detected at an early stage, the treatment will be easy and highly effective, helping to prevent potentially dangerous complications.

2. General health examination helps to detect gout early

2.1. Tests to diagnose gout

To definitively diagnose a patient with gout, the patient will be assigned to perform basic tests including:
Blood uric acid level test: It is performed to check uric acid levels in the patient's blood. . Under normal health conditions, the uric acid concentration in the blood in men is 210-420 μmol/L, in women 150-350 μml/L. If blood uric acid test results are higher than normal, combined with clinical symptoms and other test results to diagnose the disease. 24-hour urine uric acid test: This is a test indicated for patients with a high probability of gout to monitor uric acid excretion from the body. Normal people have uric acid levels in the urine between 1200-5900 μmol/L/24 hours. People with gout have higher than normal uric acid levels in their urine. Joint fluid test: The most accurate way to confirm the diagnosis of gout. Joint fluid is aspirated for microscopic examination to detect needle-shaped urate crystals or tophi. However, in practice this method is only done when absolutely necessary. In addition to the above tests, depending on each case, the patient may be assigned to perform some more tests such as kidney function, blood lipids, blood glucose, liver enzymes... to determine the cause of the disease and detect other associated risk factors such as metabolic syndrome. Other methods such as X-ray, CT scan, arthroscopy, ... to diagnose and determine the extent of the disease.

2.2. How does a general physical exam help detect gout early?

General health examination is an effective method to protect health. During the general examination, the patient will be evaluated overall body indexes through tests, imaging techniques, functional exploration techniques, ... thereby helping to screen and detect early illnesses.
A general physical examination can help detect gout early through a blood uric acid test. This is a routine test performed on most health checkup packages. Although not all people with high uric acid in the blood have gout, but if the uric acid level in the blood is high and prolonged, the risk of gout is very high. When the blood uric acid test result is high, the patient will be assigned to carry out further tests along with imaging methods such as joint X-ray, CT scan,... to make a definitive diagnosis. sick.
During the general health examination, the customer will be consulted directly by the doctor, specifically with the current health status of the customer. From there, customers better understand the nature of the disease, risk factors, treatment methods, necessary lifestyle changes... Having knowledge will change actions. That's what we want to emphasize.

Realizing that importance, Vinmec International General Hospital is currently implementing a lot of general health checkup packages with many options suitable for each customer such as:
Children's general health checkup package children Standard general health checkup package Comprehensive general health checkup package Special general health checkup package VIP general health checkup package Diamond general health checkup package

With a system of modern facilities according to international standards and a team of highly qualified and experienced doctors, a luxurious and modern medical examination and treatment space, attentive and enthusiastic medical staff, customer satisfaction when using Vinmec's medical services.

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