Does Gout Affect the Heart?

… Continued …

Kidney stones

Excess uric acid in the blood can stay and accumulate in the urinary tract, causing kidney stones. Over time this can be potential to block the flow of urine (if the stones are large enough) which then eventually may cause damage to the kidney.

Some medicines can help treat kidney stones. Even in severe case, surgery may be suggested, especially when the stones cause infection or kidney damage. For more detailed information about the link between gout and kidney stones, see here!

And we know well that the kidneys are so crucial in your cardiovascular system. The kidney damage can be both a consequence and a cause of cardiovascular disease.

Hypertension

To have healthy blood circulation, you need to have healthy levels of blood sugar, blood cholesterol, and blood pressure. If something goes awry in one of these variables, your blood flow can be affected, increasing the risk of numerous health conditions such as diabetes, heart disease, and stroke!

High blood pressure or hypertension is bad for your heart and cardiovascular system. It can make your heart pump the blood harder than usual and the blood cannot be distributed effectively. In fact, hypertension is one of top leading causes behind heart problems.

Poorly-controlled high uric acid in people with gout may not cause a direct effect on blood pressure. But as mentioned before, it can damage the kidney.

And while hypertension is the second leading cause of kidney failure after diabetes, the damaged kidney can make hypertension get worse, too – creating a dangerous cycle.

Kidney damage can put you at greater chance of having more fluid retention. This is not only bad for your blood pressure and contribute to cause hypertension, but also can cause pulmonary edema (excessive fluid in the lungs) and swelling in the legs & arms!

Obesity

Having excessive pounds of weight such as in obesity is a risk factor of gouty arthritis. Obesity is linked to poor habits of eating unhealthy foods like junk foods, saturated fats, trans-fat, and so on. More foods you eat may increase your risk of eating more foods containing purines, too.

While obesity can worsen the outcome of your gout, being obese also can be an alarm of decline in kidney function. So, diet for gout is not only focused on restricting dietary purines, but is also intended to help anything in balance, keeping the weight off!