Pseudogout

Pseudogout

Learn the difference between gout and pseudogout : the 2 most common crystal-induced joint diseases.

Gout and pseudogout

The difference in these 2 types of arthritis is based on the crystals causing the inflammations:

  • with gout the inflammation is caused by MSU – monosodium urate monohydrate – crystals
  • with pseudogout the inflammation is caused by CPP – calcium pyrophosphate – and should therefore be called CPPD of calcium pyrophosphate disease.

Pseudogout Symptoms

Both gout and pseudogout symptoms are similar: both come with acute and episodic attacks of joint warmth, pain, swelling, and stiffness. Since the crystals that irritate your joints will be different, eliminating foods that cause gout to cure pseudogout is completely irrelevant.

Nearly half of all pseudogout attacks occur in the knee where gout mostly attacks the big toe.

Not only can pseudogout resemble gout, the symptoms also resemble those of seat and rheumatoid arthritis. The best way to diagnose gout and pseudogout is removing synovial fluid from the affected joint and test for the presence of MSU to diagnose gout or the
presence of pseudogout crystals CPP to diagnose pseudogout.

Pseudogout treatment

There is no cure for pseudogout. The treatment for pseudogout lies entirely in controlling pseudogout symptoms
with non specific pseudogout medicine:

  • NSAIDs – NonSteroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs – are normally used to counter pseudogout pain and inflammation
  • low doses of NSAIDs and colchicine are used as a future preventive measure for pseudogout
  • as with any sever joint pain, cortisone shots into the affected joint are very helpful against pain and inflammation

Unlike with gout where a diet poor in purines has proven to be helpful, there is no diet that is helpful in controlling pseudogout.

More pages for pseudogout

Since real pseudogout causes are unknown to me and pseudogout doesn’t lie in the scope of our treating gout site, we refer you to:

  • pseudogout wikipedia : the process described in wiki called chondrocalcinosis is the forming of chalky deposits of the CPP calcium crystals in the cartilage (see the pseudogout knee picture on top of this page). When these calcium crystals shake loose from the cartilage, they start irritating the synovium – the tissue surrounding and protecting the joint and producing synovial fluid to nourish and lubricate the joints. This will cause the joint to become hot, red and swollen.
  • pseudo gout treatment on medicinenet.com