Table of contents:
- What is a gout test?
- When is it necessary to do a uric acid check?
- The usual type of gout test
- Uric acid test in the blood
- Uric acid test in urine
- Preparations that must be done before checking uric acid
- Results of uric acid levels
High uric acid levels can cause various diseases. One of them is gout or gout. Therefore, it is important for you to control uric acid levels to avoid this disease. However, how do you check uric acid levels in the body? What tests or examinations should be done to find out the uric acid level?
What is a gout test?
A uric acid test is a test that is done to determine the level of uric acid in the body. Uric acid itself is a compound that is formed when the body breaks down purines, which are substances that are found naturally in the body and can also come from the food or drink you consume.
Uric acid dissolves in the blood and then enters the kidneys. From the kidneys, uric acid will be excreted from the body through urine. However, if the body produces too much uric acid or the kidneys don't excrete enough urine, the uric acid will accumulate and form crystals in the joints.
This condition causes inflammation of the joints (arthritis) called gout. In addition, uric acid crystals can also form in the kidneys and cause kidney stones.
When is it necessary to do a uric acid check?
High uric acid levels are associated with gout and kidney stones. Therefore, a gout test is generally done if you have symptoms associated with both diseases.
Gout symptoms that may arise, such as pain, swelling, and redness in the joints. While the symptoms of kidney stones that generally appear, namely severe pain in the side of the stomach, back pain, blood in the urine, frequent urge to urinate, or nausea and vomiting.
In these conditions, a uric acid test can help your doctor determine a diagnosis and find the cause of your symptoms.
In addition, uric acid tests are also commonly performed on cancer patients who are undergoing chemotherapy or radiation therapy. The reason is, both types of treatment can increase uric acid levels. Through these tests, doctors can ensure that treatment is given before uric acid levels become too high.
The usual type of gout test
In general, there are two types of gout tests that doctors generally do. The two types of examinations, namely:
Examination of uric acid levels in the blood is also called serum uric acid. As the name suggests, this examination is a test that is carried out by taking a blood sample.
In this uric acid check, a medical personnel will take a blood sample from a blood vessel in your arm using a syringe. Your blood sample will then be collected into a test tube for examination in the laboratory.
When the blood draw is done, you will generally feel a little pain as the needle enters and leaves your vessel. However, this is perfectly normal and usually only lasts a moment, that is, less than five minutes.
In addition, reported by the University of Rochester Medical Center, taking blood tests with a syringe can also cause other risks, such as bleeding, infection, bruising, and feeling like dizziness.
In addition to blood samples, checking uric acid levels can also be done by taking a urine sample. The urine sample taken is urine that you pass for 24 hours. Therefore, this urine sample collection can usually be done in your home.
Prior to sampling, medical personnel will provide a container to collect urine and instructions on how to collect and store the sample.
You need to start taking urine samples from the morning. After waking up, you need to urinate right away, but don't store this urine. However, you need to record when you first urinated on that day, as a sign that you started taking a urine sample within the next 24 hours.
For the next 24 hours, collect all the urine you excrete in the container provided and record the time. Store your urine container in the refrigerator or cooler with ice. Then, take all these samples to the laboratory or hospital where you are treated, to be examined in the laboratory.
Unlike a blood sample, checking the uric acid level with a urine sample is painless and does not pose a risk or cause any particular problems.
Preparations that must be done before checking uric acid
There are no special preparations that you have to do before undergoing a test for gout, unless there are specific instructions from your doctor. However, you should pay attention to the following things before the examination procedure is carried out:
- Tell your doctor about any medications, including supplements and herbal remedies, that you are taking. This is because some drugs can affect uric acid levels in your body, such as aspirin, gout drugs, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), and diuretic drugs.
- Your doctor may ask you to stop the drug for a while before the test is done. But keep in mind, don't stop and change to taking medication until your doctor says so.
- You may be asked to fast for 4 hours before the test, especially to check for uric acid in your blood.
- Before taking a urine sample, make sure you consume enough water to avoid dehydration.
- Also, make sure you don't drink alcohol for 24 hours of urine sampling, as it can lower the uric acid levels excreted by the kidneys.
Results of uric acid levels
The results of a uric acid check, either with blood or urine samples, will generally come out one or two days after the sample is collected by medical personnel in the laboratory. From these results, it will be seen whether the uric acid levels are normal or not.
However, checking uric acid levels alone is not necessarily able to diagnose a disease, both gout and kidney disease. You may need other tests to help your doctor determine the diagnosis.
For example, a joint fluid test if you suspect gout or a urinalysis test if your doctor suspects you have kidney stones. Talk to your doctor about the right type of test.
