Gout can affect anyone. People assigned male at birth (AMAB) are three times more likely to develop gout. People assigned female at birth (AFAB) rarely experience gout until after menopause.

People with certain health conditions are more likely to develop gout, including:

    Overweight or obesity.
    Congestive heart failure.
    Diabetes.
    Hypertension (high blood pressure).
    Kidney disease.
    Blood cancer.

You’re more likely to experience gout if you:

    Have a biological parent or grandparent who has gout.
    Eat a lot of animal proteins — especially animal flesh, shellfish and foods that contain organ meat.
    Drink alcohol regularly.
    Take a diuretic medication (water pills).
    Take immunosuppressants.

The risk of developing gout can be mitigated by not Eating or drinking foods high in purines witch are more likely to lead to high uric acid levels in your body:

    Sugary drinks and sweets: Standard table sugar is half fructose (fruit sugar), which breaks down into uric acid. Any food or drink with high sugar content can trigger gout.
    High fructose corn syrup: This is a concentrated form of fructose. Packaged food products and processed snacks can contain lots of high fructose corn syrup.
    Alcohol: Even though not all alcoholic drinks are high in purines, alcohol prevents your kidneys from eliminating uric acid, pulling it back into your body, where it continues to accumulate.
    Organ meats: These include liver, tripe, sweetbreads, brains and kidneys.
    Game meats: Specialties such as goose, veal and venison all contain high levels of purines.
    Certain seafood: Herring, scallops, mussels, codfish, tuna, trout and haddock.
    Red meat: Beef, lamb, pork and bacon.
    Turkey: Especially processed deli turkey.
    Gravy and meat sauces.

Gout symptoms include: 

    Intense pain.
    Discoloration or redness.
    Stiffness.
    Swelling.
    Tenderness, even to a light touch (like a bedsheet covering your affected joint).
    Warmth, or a feeling like the joint is “on fire.”
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