Do you wake up in the middle of the night, and your big toe feels as if it was on fire. It's swollen, hot and has the feeling were its tender that even the weight of your sheet touching it seems unbearable.

In the United States alone over two million Americans are affected and suffer from attacks of Gout, it's a terrible, painful condition. Gout is a type of an arthritis condition. This is most common in men between the ages of 40 and 50, and in women, frequency increases after menopause. The condition is rare in children and young adults. It's caused by too much uric acid in the blood. Sometimes, having too much uric acid is not always harmful. Some people that have high levels in their blood never get gout. However, when your body can't process them efficiently you will have problems, if the levels get too high uric acid in the blood crystallizes of hard lumps and settles in the joint spaces, which is what causes swelling, inflammation, stiffness, and pain.

The crystals are uric acid, which is the breakdown process of purines a normal waste product of the food we eat. Uric acid is normally filtered out of the body by the kidneys and is eliminated as urine. In some people with gout, the level of uric acid rises above normal and crystals deposit in the ligaments and cartilage. An abnormality in the production or elimination of uric acid can cause attacks of gout arthritis, kidney stones, and even in extreme cases, the blockage of the kidney tubules with uric acid crystals, leading to kidney failure. The joint that's most affected in gout is the big toe, although other joints could also be affected, which would be the knee, ankle, foot, hand, wrist and elbow.

You're more exposed of getting gout if you are overweight, drink too much alcohol, or eat too much meat and fish that are high in chemicals called purines. Some medicines, such as water pills, diuretics, can also bring on gout. The most common sign of gout is a nighttime attack of swelling, tenderness, redness, and sharp pain in your big toe. Also, you can get gout attacks in your foot, ankle, knees, hand, or elbow. When the joint inflammation is intense its because the white blood cells are overpowering the uric acid crystals and releasing chemicals that are causing the pain, redness of the joint tissues, and heat. These attacks of pain might last a few days or maybe even many weeks before it goes away, another attack might not even happen for months or years.

To help relieve and correct symptoms of gout a good thing to try would be Goutrol it's an herbal formula for the correction of uric acid disorders. This contains mint leaves B.E.E, Garden thyme B.E.E. and other ingredients of natural origin. Mint leaves B.E.E. may have diuretic activity and help maintain normal uric acid level. Thyme B.E.E. has anti inflammatory activity and helps minimize swelling and pain.