Is hyperuricemia serious?

Written by Zhang Jun Jun
Endocrinology
Updated on May 06, 2025
00:00
00:00

Hyperuricemia can be divided into several stages, each with varying degrees of severity. Early on, it may be asymptomatic, manifesting either as consistent or fluctuating hyperuricemia. If it progresses to an acute gout phase, it can cause a series of harms to the kidneys, joints, and internal organs. During the chronic gout phase, there is more deposition of urate salts, primarily affecting the kidneys. Initially, it causes gouty nephropathy, leading to edema, hypertension, renal insufficiency, and even acute renal failure. The second scenario involves uric acid-related kidney stone disease, which can lead to a significant number of kidney stones, causing acute renal failure, pyelonephritis, renal abscesses, and more. Additionally, it can cause eyelid lesions, including blepharitis along the eyelid margin, and possibly gouty tophi near the eyelid margin that may rupture, adversely affecting the eyes and vision. It may even lead to retinal hemorrhage, exudation, and edema. Thus, uncontrolled uric acid levels represent a serious health concern.

Other Voices

doctor image
home-news-image
Written by Luo Juan
Endocrinology
46sec home-news-image

Can people with hyperuricemia eat wood ear mushrooms?

People with hyperuricemia can eat wood ear mushrooms. As wood ear mushrooms are considered a low-purine food, containing approximately 8.8mg of purines per 100 grams, they can be consumed during hyperuricemia. For hyperuricemia, it is necessary to restrict some high-purine foods, such as animal offal, clams, crabs, oysters, and sardines. Some meats, seafood, peas, and spinach, which also contain a certain amount of purines, can be consumed in moderation. Wood ear mushrooms are a low-purine food and are generally not restricted. Thus, people with hyperuricemia can eat wood ear mushrooms.

doctor image
home-news-image
Written by Chen Xie
Endocrinology
1min 8sec home-news-image

How is hyperuricemia treated?

The treatment of hyperuricemia mainly includes: First, improving lifestyle, including healthy eating with a low-purine diet, quitting smoking, drinking more water, exercising regularly, and controlling weight. Second, alkalinizing the urine using sodium bicarbonate to maintain urine pH between 6.2 and 6.9, which facilitates the excretion of uric acid. Third, avoiding medications that increase blood uric acid levels, such as diuretics, corticosteroids, and insulin, among others. Fourth, using medications that lower uric acid, including drugs that increase uric acid excretion, mainly benzbromarone and probenecid, and drugs that inhibit uric acid synthesis, such as allopurinol and febuxostat. The choice of medication has specific indications, contraindications, and side effects, and it is advised to use these medications under the guidance of a specialist and not to self-medicate.

doctor image
home-news-image
Written by Li Hui Zhi
Endocrinology
59sec home-news-image

Is hyperuricemia dangerous?

Hyperuricemia is generally diagnosed when the blood uric acid level in males exceeds 420 micromoles per liter and in females exceeds 360 micromoles per liter. Some patients with hyperuricemia are asymptomatic, but others may develop gouty arthritis, characterized by local joint redness, swelling, heat, and pain, and even limited mobility. Some patients may develop gouty nephropathy, leading to abnormal kidney function. There are also instances of patients developing tophi, which can cause joint deformity and even limited mobility. Therefore, if hyperuricemia is not controlled promptly, it poses certain risks and may lead to complications such as tophi, gouty arthritis, and gouty nephropathy.

doctor image
home-news-image
Written by Lin Xiang Dong
Endocrinology
29sec home-news-image

Hyperuricemia standards

The diagnostic criteria for hyperuricemia specify that under normal purine diet conditions, if the fasting serum uric acid level on non-consecutive days exceeds 420 micromoles/liter for males and 360 micromoles/liter for females, hyperuricemia can be diagnosed. Hyperuricemia is typically classified into primary hyperuricemia and secondary hyperuricemia, with most patients showing no clear clinical symptoms.

doctor image
home-news-image
Written by Li Hui Zhi
Endocrinology
41sec home-news-image

Hyperuricemia Complications

Common complications, the first is the effect on joints, manifested as local joint redness, swelling, heat, and pain, and even mobility impairment, usually referring to gouty arthritis. The second complication is the effect on the kidneys, resulting in hyperuricemic nephropathy, where the patient will experience abnormal kidney function. The third complication is the formation of gouty tophi, where many patients have deposits in the joints, leading to the occurrence of tophi and causing joint mobility impairment. Therefore, hyperuricemia needs to be treated promptly to prevent these complications.