What Happens With Too Much Uric Acid in Your Body?
As its name suggests, uric acid is an acidic waste product that your body passes through urine. It is a normal byproduct of the breakdown of foods that contain purines. Normally, the kidneys filter out uric acid from your blood; if too much builds up, it can lower the pH of your blood and urine and lead to a painful joint condition called gout and other complications.
If you are experiencing serious medical symptoms, seek emergency treatment immediately.
High Blood Uric Acid
If you have high levels of uric acid in your blood because you have excess production of uric acid or your kidneys cannot excrete it efficiently, you may develop a condition called hyperuricemia. This condition makes your blood more acidic. Hyperuricemia may occur in people who eat lots of high-purine foods, such as liver, gravies and dried beans and peas. The National Institutes of Health clarifies that hyperuricemia is not a disease and does not cause symptoms on its own. However, it can increase your risk of other harmful conditions.
- If you have high levels of uric acid in your blood because you have excess production of uric acid or your kidneys cannot excrete it efficiently, you may develop a condition called hyperuricemia.
- However, it can increase your risk of other harmful conditions.
Uric Acid Crystals and Disease
Reasons for High Creatinine and Uric Acid
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High blood levels of uric acid -- chronic hyperuricemia -- can cause uric acid salt crystals to form in your joints, leading to a condition called gout. According to the Cleveland Clinic, gout results from abnormal deposits of urate crystals around the cartilage of the joints 2. These spiky salts find their way into the joint fluid, causing inflammation, stiffness, swelling and pain. This most commonly happens in the big toe but can occur in any joint. Urate crystals can also clump together in the kidney, causing kidney stones.
- High blood levels of uric acid -- chronic hyperuricemia -- can cause uric acid salt crystals to form in your joints, leading to a condition called gout.
- These spiky salts find their way into the joint fluid, causing inflammation, stiffness, swelling and pain.
Nutrition to Reduce Uric Acid
Gout used to be referred to as a disease of the rich because it was thought to caused by excess intake of rich foods and alcohol. While nutrition is important, your overall health, medications and kidney function can all raise your uric acid levels. If you have high uric acid levels, the National Institutes of Health advises avoiding alcohol and drinking plenty of water and other fluids to help the kidneys flush this compound.
- Gout used to be referred to as a disease of the rich because it was thought to caused by excess intake of rich foods and alcohol.
- If you have high uric acid levels, the National Institutes of Health advises avoiding alcohol and drinking plenty of water and other fluids to help the kidneys flush this compound.
Measuring Blood Uric Acid
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Your doctor will use a serum uric acid test to check your blood levels. The University of Rochester advises that blood test results greater than 6 to 7 milligrams per deciliter may point to hyperuricemia 1. However, gout cannot be diagnosed by a blood sample; elevated blood uric acid levels does not mean you have this condition. Instead, your doctor will take fluid from an inflamed joint and check it for urate salt crystals.
- Your doctor will use a serum uric acid test to check your blood levels.
- Instead, your doctor will take fluid from an inflamed joint and check it for urate salt crystals.
Related Articles
References
- University of Rochester Medical Center: Uric Acid (Blood)
- Cleveland Clinic: Gout
- National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases: Questions and Answers About Gout
- George C, Minter DA. Hyperuricemia. [Updated 2019 Jun 4]. In: StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing; 2019 Jan-.
- American Association for Clinical Chemistry. Uric acid. Reviewed May 17, 2017.
- Benn CL, Dua P, Gurrell R, et al. Physiology of hyperuricemia and urate-lowering treatments. Front Med (Lausanne). 2018;5:160. doi:10.3389/fmed.2018.00160
- George C, Minter DA. Hyperuricemia. [Updated 2019 Jun 4]. In: StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing; 2019 Jan-.
- Ramirez-Sandoval JC, Madero M. Treatment of hyperuricemia in chronic kidney disease. Contrib Nephrol. 2018;192:135-146. doi: 10.1159/000484288
- Wilson FP, Berns JS. Tumor lysis syndrome: new challenges and recent advances. Adv Chronic Kidney Dis. 2014;21(1):18–26. doi:10.1053/j.ackd.2013.07.001
- American Association for Clinical Chemistry. Uric acid. Reviewed May 17, 2017.
- Khanna D, Fitzgerald JD, Khanna PP, et al. 2012 American College of Rheumatology guidelines for management of gout. Part 1: systematic nonpharmacologic and pharmacologic therapeutic approaches to hyperuricemia. Arthritis Care Res (Hoboken). 2012;64:1431–46. doi: 10.1002/acr.21772
- Coburn BW, Bendlin KA, Sayles H, et al. Target serum urate: Do gout patients know their goal? Arthritis Care Res (Hoboken). 2016;68(7):1028-35. doi:10.1002/acr.22785
- Wiederkehr MR, Moe OW. Uric acid nephrolithiasis: a systemic metabolic disorder. Clin Rev Bone Miner Metab. 2011;9(3-4):207–217. doi:10.1007/s12018-011-9106-6
Writer Bio
Nadia Haris is a registered radiation therapist who has been writing about nutrition for more than six years. She is completing her Master of Science in nutrition with a focus on the dietary needs of oncology patients.