The diabetes is undeniably a sweet love. Well, it is just what it is supposed to be due to the reason that the diabetes is the condition of having an enormous level of blood sugar. We will give you a deadly and sweet fact: diabetes has a relationship with gout. We will give you another fact, which is romantic and pain-inducing as well: their relationship may last for FOREVER.
That is why this article aims to explain gout and diabetes relationship. Did diabetes cause gout or it another way around?
The Controversial Relationship of the Gout and Diabetes
If you Google it, you will find that it is all over the net. Many individuals who suffer from gout suffer from diabetes too. It is not that surprising though due to reason that they have similar risk factors like hypertension, obesity, and different cardiovascular diseases. In fact, they seem to be different cards, which are stacked on the deck. It is just a matter of order and also bad lack if you draw them all. Unfortunately, you will pull cards from this deck until it becomes empty as long as your lifespan is allowing it if you begin on drawing from it.
Now, we go back to the relationship between gout and diabetes. Who between the two flirted first? It diabetes seduced gout or the gout is the one who does the wooing? Well, there is a plot twist in their love story: matchmaker. Yup, there is one thing who plays a matchmaker.
The Matchmaker called Acid
It is not the node in the joint that attracted diabetes, nor the sweetness in the blood that seduced gout. The diabetes is not directly the cause of gout and gout will not cause diabetes.
As mentioned above, these two shared similar risk factors. But what is the particular strong similar risk factor of the two? The answer is the uric acid. It is, in fact, the uric acid alone but acids n general. So how these culprits inflict devastation and become the matchmaker of diabetes and gout?
You probably have the knowledge that the gout is commonly a result of the hyperuricemia which is a condition on which the body has too much uric acid. For those who have no idea about it, here is a little background.
The gout is caused by the crystallization of the uric acid in the joints. The crystallized uric acid is detected by the body as a foreign substance and therefore makes an attack against the unsuspecting crystal. When the immune system will launch an assault, it will send signals for reinforcement called PAIN. It will then explain the inflammation and the pain in a gout attack.
The synovial joints are not something to be a storage of the uric acid but this acid will end up getting stuck in this joints. Why though? The answer is lying at the cellular level. In order to find out more, let us zoom million times to the cell’s microscopic word:
The liver can normally flush out all the uric acid. However, if the liver is weak or if a person suffers from the uric acid inducing diseases like the Lesch-Nyhann Syndrome, there will be an accumulation of the uric acid over the time that will lead eventually to the hyperuricemia.
The uric acid, if it will not be flushed out, will cause the blood’s pH to be acidic. Generally speaking, it will be really very bad to the health. Thus, the body is temporarily finding ways to hide the uric acid which will lead these to the interstitial fluids. What surrounds the cells in the tissue spaces are the interstitial fluids. You can probably think of this as the cell’s living environment. The interstitial space will also reek with uric acid over the time. If there will be no places to go, the uric acids will then end up in the joints and will crystallize over the time due to its solubility in the synovial fluids.
Gout’s tragic story may seem to have no connection to diabetes right? It is wrong though.
Having too much uric acid will lead to the cells to wither away. The reason for that is that the body having too many acids will mean that there is the presence of too many damaging free radicals. The cell’s overall health will slowly but surely gradually be weaker. An example for this is the cell’s insulin receptors will be damaged. If the cell’s receptors are damaged, then the cells will have no reaction with the insulin. The insulin is an enzyme which is the one responsible for making the cell digests the glucose. Therefore, there will be an increase in the glucose’s concentration in the blood which will lead to diabetes. Remember that it the type 2 diabetes because it is caused by the insulin resistance.
It may seem that the hyperuricemia is the only one that caused both. However, there is another culprit called Acids.
What will cause the hyperuricemia is not only the uric acid but the presence of the existing acids as well. They have the potential in causing any of the degenerative diseases. Just like mentioned earlier, the more acidic the blood is, the more the cells will wither. Thus, diabetes can start even in the hyperuricemia’s absence.
