High Uric Acid Impacts Osteoarthritis

Do you struggle with OA and pain? You may have no idea that you are dealing with osteoarthritis until you are diagnosed.

Getting your OA diagnosed through your medical history, physical exams, x-rays, and more is pretty simple. However, predicting the way that it will manifest in each individual can be tough. The progression and how much it will get worse for each person is difficult to pin down ahead of time.

Researchers now might have found an indicator that may help them with predictions, however. Could it be in the form of uric acid levels in high amounts? 

Frequently associated with having gout (a different arthritis form), uric acid in high levels but no gout may indicate that their OA progresses faster than other people's might. This was in a 2017 Arthritis & Rheumatology research article.


Learning About Uric Acid

What is uric acid? This is a substance that forms in the body naturally when purines are broken down. These are found in foods and human cells. The blood would normally help to transport the uric acid over to the body's kidneys and it's then eliminated through urine.

Some people have too high amounts of this acid in their body because that's how they produce it-- or they have a normal production amount but their body cannot process the acid efficiently. As a result, it would build up and the levels would be higher than ever.

Lifestyle factors may contribute to these high levels as well. Sweet breads, shellfish, gravy, and red meat in the diet can all contribute to the acid levels rising. Heavy consumption of beer as well as being obese may also be factors that play in.


Lowering Uric Acid

Lowering uric acid levels may be important if they are very high or your health is in jeopardy. If doctors tell you that you have higher levels or you have gout, then you may gotten a medication prescription that is intended to lower the levels. The drugs should be taken as instructed to help them be effective and safe.


Helping Levels Go Down

Stay hydrated: Drinking your fair share of water in 8 cups could help flush the acid all the way out of the system. This can cut back on the chance of getting kidney stones. Cut out soda and juice and add water and tea instead.


Stay Away from Alcohol

Alcohol needs to be replaced with water because it's loaded with purines. Beer especially has these purines and you need to stay away because metabolizing of the purines means higher levels. Just cut back or stop all together for best results.


Watch the Diet

Diet is directly connected to health! Cut back on shellfish if you're a big shellfish person and red meat and you should be okay. Consult with your doctor to find out what diet mistakes you should avoid.

Uric acid in the body that is too high could accelerate osteoarthritis pain and the OA condition overall. Avoid this by being healthy, following your doctor's advice, and staying on top of the latest research and news about this condition.
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