Exercise helps maintain healthy levels of uric acid in the body, reducing inflammation and relieving symptoms such as swelling, redness, and tenderness around affected joints.
Gout and diabetes are debilitating conditions that cause severe repercussions if left untreated. Gout is a form of arthritis caused by a build-up of uric acid in the body, while type 2 diabetes is a chronic condition characterised by high blood glucose levels. Type 2 diabetes is caused by your body’s inability to use insulin to regulate blood sugar levels properly. Gout typically causes sudden, severe pain and swelling in joints, especially in the feet or lower legs.
But is there a connection between gout and diabetes?
The Link Between Gout and Diabetes
A 2016 study published in the PMC indicated that women with gout had 71% more chances of developing type 2 diabetes, while only 22% of men with gout had an increased risk of type 2 diabetes. Allopurinol, a common gout treatment, has shown promise in lowering heart muscle thickening and is currently being tested as a potential drug to lower the risk of diabetic nephropathy (kidney disease).
Although diabetes and gout are two significantly different health conditions, they share a close relationship where insulin resistance plays a key role. Insulin resistance occurs when your body cells don’t respond to the hormone insulin, preventing glucose from entering them. As a result, the pancreas produces more and more insulin in an attempt to keep blood sugar levels within a normal range. Over time, this can lead to high levels of circulating insulin in the bloodstream.
How Insulin Resistance Is Related to both Gout & Diabetes?
- Diabetes and Insulin Resistance: When your body cannot produce enough insulin or use the insulin created, your blood sugar level rises, leading to diabetes. Insulin resistance can cause your blood sugar levels to rise, which might lead to diabetes.
- Gout and Insulin Resistance: You can develop gout with the excess build-up of uric acid in your body. A study in 2016 showed that uric acid build-up could worsen your insulin resistance, leading to diabetes.
What are the Risk Factors for Gout and Diabetes?
Some of the common things that can affect your diabetes and gout are:
- Obesity: Excess body fat might increase your risk of gout and diabetes
- Too much alcohol: If you exceed the intake of alcohol levels, it might affect the production of insulin in your pancreas, leading to increased chances of developing type 2 diabetes and gout
- Family history: Having a family history of gout or diabetes can also contribute to the risk factor of developing these conditions
- Other health problems: High blood pressure or cholesterol might also have a concerning contribution to developing diabetes and gout
Apart from these common risk factors, eating a diet high in purine, like red meat, lentils, spinach, oily fish, asparagus, oatmeal, and beans, can cause its components to break down into uric acid and develop the risk of gout.
Certain medications can help reduce the production amount of uric acid in your body, while some can strengthen your kidney’s ability to filter out toxins from the body, reducing the chances of a gout flare-up.
How to Manage Gout and Diabetes?
To control diabetes and gout, it’s necessary to keep your blood sugar and uric acid in control. For that to happen, make necessary lifestyle and habit changes like:
1. Try to Lose Excess Weight
Excess weight has been linked to both illnesses, and dropping pounds can reduce the risk of developing either. It’s important to note that any diet undertaken should be done safely, as drastic changes could lead to serious health complications. Experts suggest people start by making small dietary changes, such as reducing portions or cutting unhealthy foods out of meals if possible. Talk to a dietician or a nutritionist to help you with your weight loss journey.
2. Maintain a Healthy Diet
People with diabetes are at increased risk of developing gout due to high glucose levels and insulin resistance. A healthy diet can reduce this risk by helping to regulate blood sugar levels and promoting weight loss which helps reduce inflammation in the body.
3. Workout Regularly
Exercise helps maintain healthy levels of uric acid in the body, reducing inflammation and relieving symptoms such as swelling, redness, and tenderness around affected joints. Additionally, physical activity increases circulation, which can help reduce stiffness around joints caused by gout flare-ups. For people with diabetes, exercise is essential in controlling blood sugar levels to allow the body to use insulin more efficiently.
4. Keep Other Health Issues in Check
Improving the management of other diseases can help manage your gout and diabetes. Try to keep a healthy weight and take control of other chronic conditions like high blood pressure, cholesterol, and kidney diseases.
How to Treat Gout?
Certain medications can help reduce the production amount of uric acid in your body, while some can strengthen your kidney’s ability to filter out toxins from the body, reducing the chances of a gout flare-up. However, in some cases, these medications to stop gout flare-ups can cause one because the sudden dip in uric acid levels forms crystals on the joints. But you can take medications to manage the pain and treat flare-ups. To do that, your doctors may prescribe you colchicine, corticosteroids, and other nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs.
How to Treat Diabetes?
There isn’t any permanent cure for diabetes; however, you can treat and manage this chronic health condition to prevent its complications by regularly taking insulin to control your blood glucose levels.
When to See a Doctor
The early diagnosis of chronic health conditions like diabetes and gout is better for keeping the conditions under proper control. If you think you are experiencing symptoms of gout or diabetes, it’s best to see the doctor immediately to prevent flare-ups.
Composed by: “Krishma Patel is the Co-founder and the Superintendent Pharmacist at MedsNow, an online pharmacy in the UK that provides health and wellness products and treatments along with free online consultations. “
