Acute flare
A sudden episode of joint inflammation, often with severe pain, swelling, warmth and redness.
Gout Dictionary
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⌕20 terms
Allopurinol
A urate-lowering medicine used for long-term gout management. It is not an acute painkiller.
Colchicine
An anti-inflammatory medicine used in particular gout situations, including acute flares and sometimes flare prevention during ULT changes.
Crystals
In gout, monosodium urate crystals can form in and around joints when the conditions for crystal formation persist.
Febuxostat
A urate-lowering medicine used for long-term gout management in appropriate people.
Flare
A period when gout inflammation becomes active and a joint becomes painful and swollen.
Hyperuricaemia
A higher-than-usual level of uric acid/urate in the blood. It increases gout risk but does not mean someone definitely has gout.
mg/dL
Milligrams per decilitre — one unit used to report serum urate. 6 mg/dL is about 360 µmol/L.
Monosodium urate
The chemical form of crystal deposited in gout.
NSAID
Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug. Some NSAIDs are used to reduce pain and inflammation during gout flares.
Purines
Natural compounds in cells and foods that are broken down into uric acid. Purines are only one part of the gout picture.
Serum urate
The amount of urate measured in blood. In everyday gout discussions this is often called uric acid.
Synovial fluid
Fluid inside a joint. Looking for crystals in aspirated joint fluid can help confirm gout when diagnosis is uncertain.
Tophi
Visible or palpable deposits of urate crystals that can develop in longstanding gout.
Treat to target
A strategy in which urate-lowering therapy is adjusted using repeated serum urate results until a target is reached.
ULT
Urate-lowering therapy — long-term treatment intended to lower serum urate and reduce crystal burden.
Urate
The form in which uric acid mainly circulates in the body at normal physiological pH.
Uric acid
A waste product formed when purines are broken down; the kidneys remove much of it from the body.
µmol/L
Micromoles per litre — the unit commonly used for serum urate in the UK.
Joint aspiration
Removal of joint fluid with a needle for testing. Crystal microscopy can help confirm gout when diagnosis is uncertain.