We all know that increased blood uric acid can cause gouty arthritis, and urate can also be deposited in the kidneys, which can be injured by high uric acid over time. Then, increased blood uric acid can cause some other complications. What are the diseases associated with hyperuricemia?
Complications of hyperuricemia
1. hypertension
Patients with gout can develop renal hypertension due to kidney damage caused by gouty nephropathy and kidney stones, which is more common in the middle to late stages of the disease. Even if patients do not have renal disease, many have concomitant obesity and hyperlipidemia, which also accompany hypertension.
If you have hyperuricemia and gout, it is important to monitor your blood pressure regularly.
2. Coronary artery disease
Coronary heart disease is twice as common in people with gout as in people without gout. Uric acid salts can be deposited directly on the arterial blood vessel wall, damaging the arterial lining, stimulating endothelial cell proliferation, and inducing lipid deposition in the arterial vessel wall to cause atherosclerosis.
So, hyperuricemia should be considered as one of the risk factors that predispose to atherosclerosis and coronary heart disease.
3. Diabetes mellitus
People with gout are 2 to 3 times more likely to develop diabetes than the average normal person. The predisposition to diabetes in gout patients is also directly related to genetic defects, obesity, and lack of exercise in the over-nourished body.
Therefore, blood glucose is also a key indicator to monitor during physical examination in patients with hyperuricemia.
It is worth mentioning that we usually only check fasting blood glucose during physical examination, but the early rise in blood glucose is 2 hours after meals, so we should focus on 2 hours after meals during screening.
How to avoid complications?
First and foremost, it’s about detecting the presence of hyperuricemia and controlling uric acid to normal levels. In particular, focused monitoring of these high-risk patients includes:
- Patients over 50 years of age;
- obese middle-aged or older men and menopausal women;
- Uni-articular wandering arthritis of unknown cause in young or middle-aged people or older;
- Patients with renal calculi;
- People above middle age who have a taste for fatty, sweet and heavy foods and a preference for tobacco and alcohol;
- Members with a family history of gout.
- Members with a family history of gout.
For these people, blood uric acid testing should be a routine test, along with monitoring of blood pressure, blood glucose, and lipids, to facilitate early detection of hyperuricemia and gout and to prevent it from happening. The same is true for non-risk groups who need regular blood uric acid testing.
In the meantime, patients should focus on a healthy lifestyle, such as quitting smoking and drinking, eating a low-salt, low-fat diet, and changing the “seafood and beer” diet.
Regular exercise, regular rest, and maintaining a normal weight are also important ways to prevent gout and its complications.