Health Tip: Understanding Gout

1. Take the Gout Quiz
2. Gout Overview Slideshow Pictures
3. Rheumatoid Arthritis Slideshow Pictures

(HealthDay News) -- Gout occurs when too much uric acid builds up inside the body. Though it's not understood what triggers gout, people with diabetes, kidney disease and the obese are at a greater risk, the U.S. National Library of Medicine says.

Here is the agency's list of possible gout symptoms:

• Sudden swelling of one or several joints -- often in the knee, ankle or big toe.
• Pain that strikes at night and can be severe, throb, or feel like the joint is being crushed.
• Heat and redness in the joint, along with extreme tenderness.
• A fever that accompanies joint pain.

-- Diana Kohnle

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