In the cognition of many people, gout is a common disease of middle-aged and elderly people. Those who are older and have poor eating habits are prone to gouty arthritis and joint swelling. , pain disorders, etc.
But in recent years, with the richness of people’s living and material conditions, many children have also been targeted by “gout”, and children with high uric acid detected during physical examination can be found everywhere.
Why is this “senile disease” developing at a younger age? The culprit is actually hidden in the child’s “three meals a day”.
From similar news on the Internet, it can be seen that those obese children who like to eat meat, drink juice, do not like to drink water and lack exercise have excessive uric acid levels and are easily called “gout” stare.
Why does improper diet lead to excessive uric acid levels in children, and what is the relationship between it and gout?
What is high uric acid?
Uric acid is the final product of purine metabolism in our body. It is mainly produced from hypoxanthine and xanthine under the catalysis of xanthine oxidase.
The human body produces and excretes approximately the same amount of uric acid each day. In terms of production, 80% of uric acid is produced by nucleic acid catabolism, and 20% of uric acid is produced from nucleotide catabolism in purine- or protein-rich foods ingested by the human body.
In terms of excretion, about one-third of uric acid is excreted through the intestines, and two-thirds is excreted from our kidneys. There is also a very small part, which is excreted by our sweat glands.
In the human body, the production and excretion of uric acid is like a machine cycle, which is always in a state of dynamic balance.
If this balance is broken, the metabolism of purine substances will be disturbed, and the uric acid level in the blood will increase. Generally speaking, if the uric acid level is higher than 420μmol/L, it means that the uric acid is too high, which is called “hyperuricemia” in medicine.
High uric acid damages the human body in many ways:
For example, sodium urate crystals or tiny tophi may form in the joints, causing acute inflammation of the joints;
For example, it directly or indirectly damages vascular endothelial cells, accelerates atherosclerosis, and leads to heart failure;
For example, it can cause osteoporosis, kidney damage, diabetes, etc.
Of course, children and adults have different symptoms. Most of the symptoms are knee swelling and pain, and some children don’t even have symptoms.
What are the causes of high uric acid in children?
The number one cause of high uric acid in children is to consider whether the diet is healthy and reasonable.
Food is one of the most important sources of purines in the body. If children consume too much purine-containing food in their daily diet, such as animal offal, broth, fish soup, seafood, soy products, etc., it is easy to cause an increase in uric acid.
Secondly, it is related to the child’s weight. Overweight children, those who like to drink juice, eat meat, lack exercise and do not like to drink water, are prone to disorders of the metabolic system, resulting in increased uric acid.
The third reason is high uric acid caused by diseases, such as kidney failure, diabetes, hypertension, leukemia, etc., which will increase uric acid.
The fourth reason is genetics. In some special diseases, such as polycythemia, chronic hemolytic anemia, etc., these children have abnormal purine metabolism and high uric acid.
The fifth reason is the increase in uric acid caused by taking some drugs in a short period of time.
What should I do if my child has high uric acid?
Elevated uric acid is an “unhealthy” sign. Although some children may not have any symptoms, parents should remain vigilant, investigate the reasons for the high uric acid level in children, and pay more attention in daily life.
1. Urge the child to drink more water. Children with elevated uric acid must develop the habit of drinking a lot of water. Drink some alkaline water to help excrete acidic products from your body.
2. Healthy diet, regular work and rest. Adjust the cooking method at home, use less oil, less salt, and use more steam, Cooking cooking method, carbohydrates can help excretion of uric acid, children can eat more rice, steamed bread, and pasta rich in carbohydrates, and the food should be easy to digest.
3. Increase the amount of exercise and control your weight if necessary. Most children with elevated uric acid levels are overweight. In the case of stable or no symptoms of gout, parents should take their children to do more sports and increase their children’s exercise.
By combining exercise and diet control, help children lose weight, thereby promoting uric acid excretion and restoring the body’s metabolic system.
4. If the child is in the acute attack of gout, take the child to the hospital for diagnosis and treatment as soon as possible, use painkillers if necessary to reduce the child’s pain, and stop using it after the situation is stable.
It should be noted that it is not easy to exercise during the acute attack of gout. When the child’s condition is stable and the doctor confirms that it is possible to start exercising, exercise.