Gout

{gowt) [gutta, a drop]. A disease characterized by a paroxysmal painful inflammation of the small joints, particularl the great toe, accompanied by the deposit of sodium urate. The attack usually comes on at night, is attended by a dusky, glazed swelling of the joint and agonizing pain, and disappears with a. sweat in the morning, to recur again at night. In some cases gout presents an atypic form, appearing as dyspepsia, bronchitis, or intestinal catarrh; at times it produces pneumonia and inflammation of the serous membranes. The cause of gout is not definitely known, but is connected with an exce of uric acid or urates in the blood. The disease is most com mon in high livers. G., Latent or Masked, 1 lithemia, a condition ascribed to a gouty diathesis, but not presenting the typic symptoms of gout. G., Retrocedent, that form that presents severe internal manifestations, without the customary arthritic symptoms. G., Rheumatic. See Arthritis, Rheumatoid. 300