Is uric acid harmful? How may an excess of uric acid be gotten rid of?
Uric Acid
Q. Is uric acid harmful? How may an excess of uric
acid be gotten rid of?
A. Uric acid is unquestionably a tissue poison. It may
not have the connection with rheumatism which was formerly attributed to it by
Haig and others, but uric acid is certainly a tissue poison. It not only
produces gout, but is unquestionably the cause of high blood pressure, of
disease of the kidneys and of various forms of nervous disease. Uric acid is
produced in the body in small quantities as a result of the activity of the
tissues, especially of the glandular organs. The amount of uric acid produced
in the body and excreted through the kidneys, according to Magnus-Levy, when
none is taken in the food, is about four to nine grains. On an ordinary mixed
diet the quantity is more than doubled and when flesh foods are freely used the amount may increase to five or six times the
normal amount. Beefsteak contains fourteen grains of uric acid to the pound which
is double the amount with which the body is required to deal when the diet is
restricted to natural foodstuffs which do not contain uric acid in appreciable amount. Meats of all kinds increase the uric acid
in the urine. This is particularly true of such
foods as sweetbreads, kidney and liver, which contain five times as much
uric acid as does beefsteak. Bouillon or beef tea and meat extracts have the
same effect as
meat. A pint or two of beef tea doubles the amount of uric acid in the urine.
It was formerly supposed that the liver destroyed uric acid by converting it
into urea, but it is now known that the
human liver is not capable of doing this. In the dog and other carnivorous
animals the liver destroys uric acid readily
but in human beings and the higher apes the liver does not possess this function. This is certainly a very clear indication that foods containing uric acid are not naturally intended
for consumption by human beings.