Gout, I believe we will not be unfamiliar. With the change of people’s dietary structure and living habits, this ancient “rich people’s disease” has long been “flying into the common people’s homes”, and is no longer the patent of the dignitaries. The occurrence of gout, from the body “uric acid” concentration is too high, beyond their own solubility, will be formed in the joint cavity of small urate precipitation, activate the body’s autoimmune system, triggering acute joint pain. The Romance of the Three Kingdoms has a vivid description of a gout attack: “(Guan Yu) suddenly saw a pig, which is as big as a cow, covered in black, ran into the tent, and bit the foot of the head of the clouds. Yun Chang was furious, quickly drew his sword and chopped it, the sound was like cracking. He suddenly realized that it was a dream. Then he felt a pain in his left foot.” The next day, “Yun Chang gathered a number of officials under his tent and told them about the dream, either saying that it was auspicious or ominous, and there were many different opinions.” In fact, the sudden foot pain at night in his sleep, which is the typical symptoms of gout, not what “dream signs”. Why is gout prone to attacks at night? And how to deal with it? 1, the concentration of the long night, the human body through the whistle, sweating, urination (night) and other ways to lose water, but not as convenient as the daytime at any time to drink water, the body is in a relatively dehydrated state, the blood concentration, so that the concentration of uric acid increased, crystallization and precipitation, triggering gout attacks. Countermeasures: Adequate water intake is very important for the prevention of gout attacks, with sweating conditions should pay particular attention to supplementation, to ensure that the whole day through the drinking of water in the urine volume of more than 2,000 ml. Drinking too much water before going to bed can lead to excessive wake-ups, which can also interfere with the quality of sleep. Therefore, gout sufferers should strike a balance between the two by drinking water mainly during the day and not too close to bedtime. Avoid the bedroom is too dry, the bedside should be placed in a cup of water, so that when you feel thirsty, drink at any time. 2, temperature At the end of the night, especially after sleep, the body’s metabolic rate into the trough, body temperature is relatively low. The drop in temperature makes the saturation of urate lower, more likely to precipitate. Countermeasures: pay attention to heat preservation during sleep, especially the distal extremities, is now at the height of summer, gout patients should not be greedy for cold, should not use the air conditioning will be adjusted to the bedroom temperature is too low. 3, hormones in the human physiological hormones, “adrenocorticotropic hormone” has an important role in inhibiting inflammation, can effectively prevent gout attacks, improve the symptoms of attacks. However, the secretion of corticosteroid has an obvious circadian rhythm, specifically manifested as: midnight 0-2 times the lowest, 3-5 times began to rise, to 6-8 times in the morning to reach the peak, and then gradually decline. Corticotropin physiological secretion in the middle of the night to reduce the gout attack to take advantage of the opportunity. Response: The physiological rhythm of hormone secretion cannot be regulated, but gout attacks can be prevented and gout symptoms relieved by exogenous application of steroid drugs. It should be reminded that there are possible side effects and potential risks of the drug, must meet the indications for hormone therapy, and under the guidance of a doctor can be used. 4, lack of oxygen for gout patients, sleep “snoring” phenomenon is not uncommon, especially at the same time with overweight, obese body type of people. Snoring stops and starts, accompanied by repeated whistle pause, when the situation is serious, it will cause the body to reduce the concentration of blood oxygen. In response to tissue hypoxia, the body’s nucleoside metabolism increases. As a result, although the patient does not eat or drink in the sleep, the body has produced a large number of endogenous “purine”, and purine metabolism end product is the trigger of gout uric acid. Countermeasures: For gout patients with serious symptoms of “snoring”, measures must be taken to correct “sleep apnea” as soon as possible. It is recommended to sleep in the lateral position or semi-prone position, elevate the head of the bed or pillow, and keep the nasal passages open; overweight and obese patients should lose weight; for patients who meet the indications, they can choose to wear orthodontic devices, undergo surgery, and transnasal continuous positive pressure ventilation and other treatments. Summary: Sudden foot pain at night is likely to be gout. A low purine diet, moderate exercise, and the judicious use of uric acid-lowering medications are the prerequisites and foundations for preventing gouty attacks. At the same time, targeted interventions around concentration, temperature, hormones, hypoxia and other triggers can further reduce the risk of attacks.