There are certain factors that can affect your likelihood of getting gout. In addition to an inherited abnormality in handling uric acid, other risk factors for developing gout include
· are a man, as the plasma urate level normally tends to be higher in men than women. Men are more sensitive to gout than women. Women may be protected from gout by the female hormone estrogen. Men start building uric acid levels in puberty. However, uric acid does not start accumulating in women until after menopause
· consume food with high levels of a substance called purine
· drink lots of alcohol
· take certain medicines, such as diuretics, niacin, low doses of aspirin, cyclosporine, and some drugs to cure cancer which increase the flow of the body , have some chemotherapy drugs
· obesity, excessive weight gain, especially in youth
· have a family history of gout
· have a family history of kidney disease causing the kidneys to not pass enough urate out in the urine, abnormal kidney function
· overweight
· have a medical condition such as psoriasis which can sometimes cause your body to produce too much
· have high blood pressure
· injure a joint
· have a surgical operation
Gout can be managed by dealing with the things that make it worse (see "Risk factors" above).
Identifying and avoiding the things that bring on an attack of gout are an essential part of your overall treatment plan.
