I think my diabetes has started to degrade my kidney function, because I
have been having attacks of gout. Gout comes from precipitation of ureic
(sp) acid crystals into a joint, like the big toe, from the blood, mainly
because the kidneys are not adequately cleansing the urea in the blood. I
am told that one defense is to cut way back on foods rich in the purines,
such as the organ meats. I have been unable to discover just exactly the
purines are nor a database of purine contents in foods. I am getting good
results on the BG front from dietary control and exercise, but need to be
able to do a better job helping to avert gout attacks. My internist has me
on allopurinol and that seems to be helping. But the affected toe always
feels just on the verge of flaring up. Gout is so very painful that I'd do
almost anything to avoid it. I even asked about amputating the affected
toe but the doc said it would just show up somewhere else. Arrrgh.

--
John Ferman
Minneapolis, MN