Medsarticles. Medical Weblog

Mention gout and people are apt to snigger, yet this common disease is no laughing matter.

My introduction to gout was in the comics of my youth, where the Indian Army colonel with the flushed face had his foot wrapped in a turban and his mood was always irascible.

This comic attitude, unfortunately, still persists, so that the sufferer gets little sympathy. But he himself is also likely to regard it too lightly.

Gout, or podagra, is an ancient disease, being well known even before the time of Hippocrates, the “father of medicine” who lived nearly 500 years before Christ. The list of famous men who have had this disorder reads like an historical Who’s Who.

Gout is mainly a male disease — 20 times as many men get it for every woman sufferer. The first attack usually comes in the forties but it is not unusual in men in their twenties — and it can even occur in children.

The trouble is an inborn error in metabolism — the tendency to gout is inherited.

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The operation which women most fear is removal of the breast.

This is only done for cancer and the fear of that disease is added to the feeling of disfigurement and loss of femininity.

Hysterectomy, or removal of the womb, on the other hand is usually done for non-cancerous conditions. Yet this operation is often misunderstood by women and as a result leads to many problems which are mainly preventable.

The uterus or womb is an organ, shaped like a pear and about the size of a golf ball. It lies low in the pelvis and can’t be felt through the abdomen unless it is enlarged. The neck of the womb, or cervix, projects into the top of the vagina.

From either side of the uterus come the Fallopian tubes and the outer open ends of these lie over the ovaries. The womb is held in place by ligaments.

The inside of the womb is hollow and lined by tissue called the endometrium.

During a woman’s reproductive life, this tissue is acted on by the hormones, oestrogen and proger-sterone, which are produced by the ovaries.

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While recognising that nervous tension can produce or aggravate physical symptoms, neither you nor your practitioner should jump to the conclusion that this is happening, without first checking other possibilities. If your practitioner dismisses a symptom as being due to nervous tension and you don’t feel this conclusion is right, I suggest you ask for a second opinion.

On the other hand, if you and your practitioner come to the conclusion that a symptom is caused or aggravated by nervous tension, this is not something to be ashamed or embarrassed about. You are under enormous strain and it would be surprising if your nerves did not play up in some way. Symptoms caused or aggravated by nervous tension are no less important, real or uncomfortable than any others. You are a whole person, not just a physical body. All parts of you are important and interconnected. Be kind to yourself — don’t judge yourself harshly, but respect and take care of all of you!

Once you accept that nervous tension is playing a part in producing a symptom, it might then improve or even clear up altogether. If not, there are basically three ways of tackling the situation. You can choose any one, two or even all three.

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