Causes of gout in women

The main cause of gout among female friends is related to obesity. Nowadays, people do not pay much attention to their dietary control and always overeat, which can easily lead to excessive accumulation of fat in their bodies, leading to obesity. If you do not lose weight in this case, you are likely to develop gout, so you should find ways to lose weight as soon as possible.

1. Obesity

Obesity is a risk factor for gout. Obesity not only increases the risk of gout, but also causes gout in obese patients at an earlier age. As BMI increases, the incidence of gout increases significantly, and visceral fat is also closely related to the occurrence of gout. [3]

Hypertriglyceridemia and obesity are both risk factors for gout. Obesity can lead to insulin resistance, which ultimately leads to reduced renal excretion of uric acid through multiple pathways. Obesity can cause an increase in free fatty acids, which in turn increases the synthesis of uric acid by affecting the activity of xanthine oxidase and other enzymes. [3]

2. Drinking

Excessive alcohol intake is an independent risk factor for gout attacks. Beer contains a large amount of purine, so it has the greatest risk of inducing gout. [6]

Possible reasons why drinking alcohol can increase blood uric acid levels[6]:

(1) Ethanol stimulates the body to synthesize lactic acid, which competitively inhibits renal tubular uric acid secretion.

(2) Ethanol can promote uric acid production by increasing the degradation of ATP into adenosine monophosphate.

(3) Certain alcoholic beverages, especially fermented beverages such as beer, produce a large amount of purine during the fermentation process. Long-term and excessive drinking can promote the occurrence of HUA and even gout.

(4) Drinking alcohol is often accompanied by the intake of high-purine foods, which increases the risk of HUA and gout.

(5) Chronic alcohol-related liver disease caused by long-term heavy drinking is related to elevated insulin levels, which can inhibit the insulin signaling pathway, increase the risk of insulin resistance, increase uric acid reabsorption, and increase blood uric acid levels.

3. Hypertension

The serum uric acid level and the prevalence of HUA in patients with hypertension were significantly higher than those in non-hypertensive patients. Hypertension is an independent risk factor for gout attacks. A nine-year follow-up of U.S. residents found that participants with hypertension had a significantly higher risk of developing gout than those without hypertension. The possible reasons are as follows: hypertension causes microvascular disease, which leads to tissue hypoxia. Subsequently, the blood lactate level increases, inhibiting the secretion of urate in the renal tubules, and ultimately causing uric acid retention and HUA. [6] In addition, many hypertensive patients use diuretics for a long time. Loop diuretics and thiazide diuretics can promote the increase of blood uric acid levels. [6]