Uric Acid Levels
Knowing your uric acid levels is vital to managing your gout.
Your doctor should be testing you every few months – more frequently if you have started a new treatment, changed diet, or made some other change that might affect your uric acid level.
If you do not know the amount of uric acid in your blood (often called serum uric acid), make sure you arrange for a test today. And get the exact number – not an opinion such as high, normal or low. Often, uric acid test results are described as normal when they are at a dangerous level for gout sufferers.
One complication of the results is that different testers use two different measurements. Conventional measurements are mg/dL, which is the most common. Some countries, especially in Europe, have adopted SI units which are either mmol/L or more commonly µmol/L (pronounced mewmol per liter or litre).
| mg/dL | µmol/L | mmol/L | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 6 | Under 350 | Under .35 | Good This level will stop uric acid crystals forming and dissolve existing crystals |
| 6 – 7 | 350 – 400 | .35 – .40 | Warning Watch for numbness, tingling and skin redness, itching or flaking as well as usual gout flares. |
| Over 7 | Over 400 | Over .40 | Bad Risk of uric acid crystals forming – the higher the value, the greater the risk |
Please remember that interpretation of your uric acid level test results should be done by a qualified medical practitioner, preferably a rheumatologist. You might consider supporting these “official” tests with your own interim uric acid level tests at home.
The values in the table are simply meant as a rough guide to show what you need to focus on. Some people can have quite high levels of uric acid yet never experience gout.
The values in each column have been rounded. The exact conversion is to multiply mg/dL by 59.48 for µmol/L, or divide µmol/L by 59.48 for mg/dL. For mmol/L, just divide by 1000. In your head, 60 or .06 is quite near enough for converting uric acid levels in different units.
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A couple of points from recent discussions:
Also, please note that the levels stated are for people who have had a gout attack (gouties). Some people have higher than normal levels, yet never form the crystals that cause gout. This is known as asymptomatic hyperuricemia.
I prefer a simpler definition.
Gout Virgins have never had a gout attack. Their uric acid level is considered normal in the 2.4 – 8.2 mg/dL range.
Gouties have uric acid crystals in their joints and tissues that will trigger more gout attacks at much lower levels. Hence the Warning and Danger levels.
Hello All, I have had gout for about 5 yrs, but just got diagnosed last week. I did not know it was gout although my family and friends were say, “its probably gout.” Last night was the second attack within 3 weeks. Basically it started 3 weeks ago, last few days was walking better, but yesterday’s walking around at work triggered something, plus Mondays drinks probably did not help as well.
My Uric Acid was at 9.4 last week, I have been reading this site for about four hours now and feel, better informed. About 5 in the morning, with the pain I was asking my wife pretty much all the questions that have been brought up here.
I will be getting some blood work done on Friday, which is one week after I took my last blood test.
The Question that I have is how often can I get blood work done once a week, twice a week what would be acceptable?
And what is the cheapest way to check Uric Acid levels?
I want to track this UA and bring it down to 6.0 if I can before I hit the meds.
Thanks for all your advice for the gout
Phoenix
From the above data you will see you are in the ‘high risk’ region, Phoenix.
I’ve had plenty of gout trouble over 5 years+ around the 7 mark, so I would seriously considering meds to lower SUA , if I were you.
There are kits for testing SUA , check Arctic Medical on here, and some discussion about accuracy of them.
Your reading is clear -and frequent testing is not going to alter your risk tbh.
Another check would confirm the situation, but with gout pain presenting already you would be better nipping this one in the bud.
Many on here are in the UK, where testing of UA is free- but interpretations are still various as to meaning of levels, which can vary daily, and treatments.
We are all different as to presentation and reactions to diet &/or drug therapy.
You can now use a uric acid calculator to convert between mg/dL and mmol/L