La Jolla Senior Care News

Gout and Your Elderly Loved One

Elder Care Coronado CA

It’s disconcerting to find that your elderly loved one wakes up in the middle of the night with extreme joint pain and redness or swelling. Since the attack often pops up with no warning whatsoever, it’s often confusing, as well. Your loved one may very likely be dealing with an attack of gout, and it’s important to learn as much as you can about it.

What Is Gout?

Gout afflicts your loved one’s joints, which means that it’s related to arthritis. It’s more complicated than just breaking down the cartilage between your loved one’s joints, however. Uric acid builds up in your loved one’s blood and then collects in the joints. Once there, it forms crystals which aggravate the joints and cause extreme inflammation and pain. Usually an attack of gout appears without warning, making it difficult to predict.

Who Is at Risk for Gout?

People who have a family history of gout are more likely to experience it, but there are other risk factors as well. People with diabetes, kidney disease, or heart disease are also at greater risk. Being overweight or eating lots of foods that are high in purines can also contribute to gout. If your loved one thinks that she might be at risk of developing gout, talk to her doctor about testing for gout.

Symptoms of Gout

When gout is inactive, your loved one isn’t likely to experience many symptoms at all. During an attack, she’s likely to experience severe pain in the affected joints. There is also likely to be swelling and redness around the joint. Because of the swelling and the crystal formations, your loved one’s range of motion is likely to be hindered as well. After the initial attack of gout, your loved one might have some lingering pain that gradually subsides as the crystals break down.

Treating Gout

Your loved one’s doctor can put together a treatment plan once testing confirms that she’s dealing with gout. This can be made up of medications, dietary changes, and other recommendations based on your elderly loved one’s circumstances. Enlist the help of elderly care providers to help you and your loved one adapt to changes that can help to slow down her gout attacks. Between the medications and adhering to lifestyle changes, your loved one may not have to deal with many gout symptoms.

Gout is extremely painful, but there are ways for you to help your loved one manage it.

La Jolla Nurses Homecare can help your aging parents remain in their own homes, call 858-454-9339. We are a home care agency providing quality and affordable senior care in La Costa, CA, and the surrounding communities."]” data-sheets-userformat=”[null,null,767,[null,0],[null,2,10667209],[null,[[null,2,0,null,null,[null,2,0]],[null,0,0,3],[null,1,0,null,1]]],[null,[[null,2,0,null,null,[null,2,0]],[null,0,0,3],[null,1,0,null,1]]],[null,[[null,2,0,null,null,[null,2,0]],[null,0,0,3],[null,1,0,null,1]]],[null,[[null,2,0,null,null,[null,2,0]],[null,0,0,3],[null,1,0,null,1]]],2,2,null,0]”>For more information about how the caregivers at La Jolla Nurses Homecare can help your aging parents remain in their own homes, call 858-454-9339. We are a home care agency providing quality and affordable senior care Coronado, CA, and the surrounding communities.

Brittnei Salerno

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