Sleep apnea causes gout

That's right! Sleep apnea can be an almost immediate cause for a gout attack. Each period during sleep when breathing stops causes the cells throughout the body to generate excess uric acid and dump it into the bloodstream. When uric acid becomes too concentrated in the blood, it is precipitated from the solution in the form of crystals of monosodium urate, the crystals which cause the immune response that is called gout when they lodge in a joint. One of the things that determines how much uric acid concentration is too much is the blood acidity. Guess what? The other thing that the stoppage of breathing does is make the blood more acidic. So sleep apnea puts an immediate double whammy on people who are subject to gout attacks.

I found all this information by reading some articles that were published in pulmonary medical journals in the 1987-1990 time frame. I went looking for that information when I noticed that my frequent gout attacks that had occurred over many years stopped completely after my sleep apnea was overcome. I was very dismayed to find that no doctor that I asked was aware of gout being caused by sleep apnea. What's wrong with those guys? If I could find the information. they could have even more easily. Maybe gout doctors don't want to know, and don't want us to know either so we keep coming back to them for treatment!