ASK THE DOCTOR: Could I be suffering from gout?

Red meat is a source of raw materials for uric acid, which can cause gout, once it is manufactured in excess amounts in the body. PHOTO by Rachel Mabala.

What you need to know:

Although red meat is not a direct cause of gout, it provides the raw materials for the formation of uric acid, which is linked to gout disease.

Dear Doctor: I have been told I have gout and yet I eat meat only once a month. Do you think it is true?
Ray Bajjasi

Dear Ray: Red meat refers to meat which is red-coloured when raw.
Red meat includes that of mammals for instance beef, lamb, goat, or bushbuck. These meats contain more of the protein myoglobin than white meats (like poultry and fish).
Pork is also considered red meat because it is red before cooking and also has high amounts of myoglobin.
While red meat is a good source of protein and iron, regular consumption may have some health risks, largely due to the saturated fat content. The risks include prostate, breast and colon cancer as well as heart disease.
Gout is a disease associated with high levels of liver-manufactured uric acid. As red meat is a good source of raw materials for uric acid, its consumption should be restricted in diet to help control gout.
Red meat however is not the cause of gout, which is due to an inborn error in formation, expulsion or handling uric acid.

Dear Doctor: I get painful sores in my mouth around my periods. I have got treatment but with no change. Why do I get them and what is the cure?
Genita Bonabaana

Dear Genita: It is likely you have aphthous mouth ulcers which are painful sores that can occur anywhere inside the mouth. Women get mouth ulcers more often than men and it is said that apart from genetics, stress, tobacco use, certain drugs like captopril for pressure, oversensitivity to a protein in wheat (gluten) and deficiency of group B Vitamins, changes in hormone levels may cause some women to get sores just before their periods. Then the ulcers may disappear during pregnancy. In some women, the ulcers only develop after menopause.
Most of the time, the ulcers will disappear without treatment but in case they do not, one should see a doctor. Meanwhile, once one has sores, one should avoid spicy foods, acidic fruit drinks, and very salty foods (such as chips) which can make the pain and stinging worse. Also, you can use a straw to drink, to avoid the liquids touching the ulcers. One should also avoid the causative drugs if you are on any medication, and use a very soft toothbrush to avoid hurting yourself.

Dear Doctor: I have heard that if a man sleeps with his pregnant wife before delivery and passes yellow urine into her, then the baby will have yellow eyes. I did not sleep with mine yet the baby has yellow eyes. Why?
Banyibire Abantu.

Dear Banyibire: When red blood cells are broken down in the body, the result is a yellow pigment that causes yellow eyes especially if it is not efficiently cleared by the liver owing to liver illness, blocked bile channels or an excess of pigment because too many red blood cells are being broken down.
In newborns, there is over supply of blood which was being used by the baby to trap oxygen in the womb. When the baby starts to breathe in air, all this blood is not needed hence much is broken down. This releases an excess of yellow pigment that the immature liver cannot handle, hence jaundice. This usually happens during the first week, improves with time and is not abnormal though a doctor can advise ways to deal with it. Jaundice within 24 hours of birth may indicate blood group compatibility problems between the mother and the baby and infection
especially from the womb or birth canal. Breast milk, dehydration due to failure to breastfeed enough, and bleeding in the scalp following a difficult delivery may all cause yellow eyes in a baby as well.
Premature babies are more likely to develop jaundice than full-term babies.
Under normal circumstances, a man will not ejaculate urine but semen during sex and even if he did this, it is unlikely to lead to the resultant offspring becoming jaundiced.

Dear Doctor: My right breast aches a lot and it is very hard inside. Whenever I press it hard, the pain worsens. I have had this condition for over two years but I have never gone to any health facility for checkup. I am afraid that it may be cancer.
Albert, 26, from Naguru

Dear Albert: Pain in the male breast is unusual except when it is from a muscle underneath the breast. Then a boil (abscess) or injury in the muscle may be the cause.

With todays self medication,many people get boils (and in your case in the breast or tissues beneath) for which they take antibiotics. Boils when they have formed pus require pus evacuation rather than taking antibiotics. When antibiotics are taken without evacuating pus, an antibioma, which is a hard area, may form. When invaded by either scar or bone tissue, this may lead to more hardness but without pain. When the antibioma is re-invaded by germs because of being a foreign body, the swelling will go from beging a hard painless mass to a painful swelling requiring pus to be evacuated.

If you were younger, for instance at puberty, then one would have thought that your swelling could have resulted from puberty hormones which usually cause minor painful breast development affecting one or two breasts. .
Male breasts though may turn cancerous. This is rare indeed and therefore there is no need to live in self denial because you will keep on suffering from a condition which can easily be dealt with precisely by a doctor. Please visit a health facility as soon as possible for help.