Health Happens
Dr. Todd Fife
As a kid, I remember certain ailments being, well just creepy. Like a goiter, or corns, or gout. While I had no idea what any of these things were, in my mind I would picture an old grandpa or grandma sitting on the front porch in a rocking chair rubbing a sore elbow saying something like, "I feel a storm's a comin'." I even thought at one time that, while creepy, it might be kind of cool to predict the weather just by the way your elbow felt for the day.
I have since learned that it is in fact NOT cool to feel the changes in the weather in a particularly sore joint. There is nothing creepy ab...
Reader Comments(1)
painfree123 writes:
It's about time that physicians realized that most gout attacks originate during sleep because they are a direct result of reduced oxygen in the blood resulting from sleep apnea. The reduced oxygen level causes the cells to produce excess uric acid fed into the blood, makes it less soluble in the blood, and gradually reduces kidney function so removal of the uric acid from the blood is slowed -- perfect storm conditions for the precipitation of the urate crystals which cause gout. Gout is just a symptom of the underlying disease -- sleep apnea. Treating the sleep apnea not only will prevent future gout attacks, but, more importantly, will greatly reduce the risk for the development of the life-threatening diseases of untreated sleep apnea -- cardiovascular diseases, hypertension, diabetes, kidney disease, etc.
06/19/2018, 12:06 pm