Gout is a problem that in most of the cases occurs suddenly. That is why it is really hard to prevent it. Doctors can only advice for a low alcohol intake and a healthy diet. Only after its occurrence specialists are able to prescribe a treatment. Treatment for gout is prescribed in order to ease the symptoms that usually consist of extreme pain in the affected joints.
We know two types of gout. Acute gout is treated using different medicines such as non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), colchines and corticosteroids. The NSAIDs are drugs that help easing the pain and have an anti-inflammatory effect. As NSAIDs we have to mention indomethacin, ketoprofen, oxaprozin, diclofenac, ibuprofen, etodolac, naproxen and sulindac. This type of treatment has proved to be the best in preventing gout attacks and easing the symptoms. NSAIDs are recommended for as long as the patient has symptoms and are taken by mouth three or four times a day. NSAIDs assure the easing of symptoms by suppressing the production of fatty acids called prostaglandins that cause the inflammation and pain in gout sufferers.
Colchine is the alternative for NSAIDs. This medicine has been used to treat gout for years. It has benefic effects on reducing and even eliminating the pain caused by gout. Even so this treatment is not recommended for persons who can not tolerate side effects such as diarrhea, nausea, vomiting or abdominal cramps. Colchine is a treatment with benefic effects because it reduces the deposit of uric acid crystals that cause inflammations. An intake of colchine within 24 to 48 hours of the onset of the gout symptoms is believed to have the awaited effect.
The third way of treating gout is the use of corticosteroids such as prednisone, prednisolone and triamcinolone. This treatment is prescribed for patients that can not take NSAIDs or colchine, being the third alternative in treating gout. This treatment has benefic effects after steroids are injected into the joint muscle. Afterwards pain is locally relieved.
The second type of gout is chronic gout. In these cases treatment is prescribed in order to prevent acute gout attack from recurring. In many of the cases this means decreasing the uric acid levels. The recommended treatments are xanthine oxidase inhibitors and uricosuric agents. Xanthine oxidase inhibitors such as allopurinol lead to decrease of uric acid levels in the organism. Uricosuric agents are medicines that help kidneys to eliminate the excess of the uric acid produced by the body. As uricosuric agents we can mention probenecid or sulfinpyrazone.
