Is gout disease contagious?
No, gout disease is not contagious. It is an inflammatory disease that affects the joints. The triggering factor for the inflammation is uric acid accumulation in the joints.
The uric acid in the joints forms monosodium urate crystals. These crystals can cause immune cells to secrete inflammatory factors (cytokines) [1].
The inflammation is not caused by a vector, like bacteria or viruses, which means that gout disease is not contagious.
What is gout disease?
Gout is a chronic inflammatory disease. It belongs to the inflammatory arthritis group of diseases. Gout is one of the most frequent inflammatory arthritides [2, 3]. It affects primarily women after menopause and middle-aged men [4].
In gout disease, monosodium urate microcrystals deposit in the joints. The immune reaction to these crystals leads to severe pain and redness in the affected joints [5, 6, 3].
The onset of gout disease is characterized by gout attacks. These sudden flare-ups of pain and redness of the joints typically occur at night. Among the triggering factors for these attacks are aspirin, a different acute disease, diuretics, and minor trauma [4].
A condition associated with gout is chronic hyperuricemia. It is a metabolic disorder that leads to high urate levels in the blood [7, 8], caused by the overproduction of uric acid [8].
Gout disease is also linked to other chronic diseases. For example, gout can occur with diabetes mellitus or chronic kidney disease [6].
Untreated gout disease can lead to chronic inflammation, that results in joint tissue destruction [9].
With proper management and treatment gout disease can be controlled, and the microcrystals in the joints can be eliminated [3].
Causes of gout disease
The cause of gout is the high accumulation of uric acid in the blood. Thus, the conditions that lead to these higher levels of uric acid cause gout.
Among the conditions that increase the risk of gout disease are:
- metabolic disorders, like diabetes,
- blood disorders,
- kidney and thyroid diseases,
- hypertension,
- sleep apnea [10].
Also, lifestyle and some medications can increase the risk of gout. For example, alcohol consumption and taking diuretics or cyclosporine can lead to gout disease [10].
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Further, some people can get gout disease due to genetic factors. Scientists identified some genes that increase the risk of gout [13].
Symptoms of gout disease
The symptoms of gout disease typically occur suddenly and include:
- severe pain attacks,
- joint redness,
- joint swelling,
- joint tenderness and stiffness,
- a feeling of warmth of the joint [14, 15, 16].
The onset of the symptoms often starts during the night [15]. Gout disease can also cause fever, headache, and chills [14].
As the disease progresses, mobility of the affected joints can significantly decrease [16].
In severe cases, gout can lead to bulging or even deformation of joints [15].
Chronic gout disease can lead to the formation of tophi in the joints and soft tissues. The tophi are hard lumps that cause permanent damage to the surrounding tissues [10].
Diagnosis of Gout
The standard diagnosis of gout is a joint fluid analysis. The fluid is obtained from the joint by aspiration with a needle. Gout disease is confirmed when the joint fluid contains monosodium urate microcrystals [17, 18].
However, if the aspiration is impossible, the diagnosis can be based on clinical presentation, family history, and hyperuricemia [19].
Imaging modalities can also be used for proper diagnosis. Among them are x-ray, ultrasonography, CT, dual-energy CT, MRI, nuclear scintigraphy, and positron emission tomography [20].
Treatment of Gout
The treatment of gout disease focuses on symptom management and gout attack prevention.
Among the effective drugs are nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) and corticosteroids [17, 21].
One part of the long-term treatment is lowering the urate concentration. It prevents further attack and damage to the joints [22].
Medication that prevents gout reoccurrence includes allopurinol and febuxostat. In cases of intolerance or ineffectiveness of the first-line drugs, substitutions exist. For example, people with intolerance of allopurinol can take colchicine and probenecid [22].