Gout, commonly known as the "White Tiger Calendar Festival", describes the unbearable pain in joints when gout attacks, as if bitten by a tiger. Gout is known as the "crown of pain" and is referred to as the "number one pain in the world" due to its intense pain during acute attacks. The medical journal The Lancet once described that gout patients feel as if a demon is biting their toes, causing the affected area to become red, swollen, twisted, and deformed.
Gout is an ancient disease, and many famous figures recorded in human history have suffered from gout. The living standards and dietary habits of ancient emperors and nobles made them more susceptible to this disease, hence gout was once known as the "imperial disease" and the "disease of wealth and prosperity". It is said that the famous military conductor Napoleon suffered a gout attack on the eve of the Battle of Waterloo, which led to a series of command disorders and ultimately changed the course of human history. Until 1856, Garrod published "The Nature and Treatment of Gout and Rheumatic Gout". The civilization explicitly proposed that "urate deposition may be the cause, rather than the consequence, of gouty inflammation", which led people to realize the inseparable relationship between gout and hyperuricemia. Modern research suggests that humans and other closely related primates have undergone multiple genetic mutations during their evolutionary process. Firstly, the ability to produce ascorbate (vitamin C) is lost. Vitamin C is an important antioxidant. In order to compensate for the deficiency of ascorbate, blood uric acid was elevated. But like other mammals, it has uric acid oxidase. Subsequently, uric acid oxidase was inactivated, resulting in the loss of the ability to produce allantoin. This ultimately leads to hyperuricemia in primates such as humans, which is different from other mammals.
Uric acid is a double-edged sword, and it is not a useless metabolic waste. During the long process of human evolution, the content of uric acid oxidase gradually decreased, leading to a gradual increase in human uric acid levels, far exceeding those of other mammals. It is precisely because of the increase in human uric acid levels that humans have survived in extremely harsh climate environments without extinction. All of this is related to a series of physiological effects of uric acid. Uric acid is a natural antioxidant. Normal levels of uric acid can counteract oxidative stress, eliminate oxygen free radicals, prevent cell lysis and apoptosis, protect endothelial DNA, and maintain the body's immune function. A certain level of uric acid can prevent the occurrence of neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, etc. Although the harm of high uric acid is significant, we cannot ignore the normal physiological effects of uric acid. If a person stays at a low uric acid level for a long time, it can affect the normal metabolic activity of their brain, leading to symptoms such as slow response and memory loss, and causing neurological disorders. Therefore, normal levels of uric acid enabled humans to eventually evolve upright walking, providing the foundation for the flowering of civilization. However, excessive levels of uric acid may trigger a range of diseases, including gout. Gout, as a metabolic disease, its harm is not only pain at the onset, but also a series of other metabolic diseases, such as diabetes, hypertension, etc. If it is not controlled for a long time, it may cause more serious complications. According to the cause of onset, gout is divided into two types: primary gout and secondary gout.
Primary gout has a clear familial genetic tendency, and the detection rate of asymptomatic hyperuricemia in relatives of gout patients is significantly higher than that of non gout patients. Gout is closely related to other metabolic diseases with genetic tendency (obesity, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, diabetes, etc.). It has been found that the genetic basis of enzyme gene mutations in purine metabolism, which leads to excessive uric acid production, causes changes in enzyme activity.
Based on this, some genetic testing companies in our country, such as Harbin Xingyun Gene Company, have designed a gout susceptibility gene testing product that covers common gout susceptibility genes and hyperuricemia susceptibility genes in East Asian populations. It can comprehensively assess the risk of gout, guide reasonable diet and lifestyle, provide scientific physical examination recommendations, and prevent the occurrence of gout and related diseases. With the improvement of technology and living standards in our country, the "imperial disease" that once invaded the health of ordinary people has been alleviated. Thanks to scientific genetic testing and prevention measures, we can stay away from the troubles of gout in the early stage.