is caused by the same hormonal imbalances as baldness, and that is why it is
classified as a sex influenced disease. Gout is inborn, however the symptoms do
not occur until middle age. Before the attacks, small amount of uric acid build
up in the joints. All joints, especially the big toe, are susceptible.
Symptoms such as heat, redness of the skin, and extreme tenderness and pain
accompany the affected joints. Numerous gout attacks can cause knobby bumps on
the affected joints. Acute cases of gout may come and go in a matter of a week
for no apparent reason. Some circumstances , however, inhibit the symptoms of
gout. These circumstances include: emotional upset, diuresis, surgery, trauma,
and the administration of certain drugs. Cochicine is the classic treatment
for gout, but new medicines have surfaced recently.
Sex linked and sex influenced diseases are a problem that hurts our society.
Although many of the diseases are just an inconvenience, others are fatal.
There is no fathomable way of preventing any of these diseases, unless genes can
be altered. The only medicine to treat theses diseases acts as a suppressant,
not as an end to the diseases’s life. Hopefully, cures can be found to save the
lives of young, innocent people who are affected with hemophilia, Duchenne’s
Muscular Dystrophy and other fatal diseases.
Works Cited
“Color Blindness Misconceptions.” USA Today 120 (1992):16 “Foot Feat:
transplant treats dystrophy.” Science News 16 June 1990:380 Grady, Denise.
“One foot forward.” Discover September 1990:86-93 Massie, Robert., and Massie,
Suzanne. Journey. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1961. Norton, Peter B.
“baldness.” The New Encyclopedia Britannica. 1994 ed. Norton, Peter B. “gout.”
The New Encyclopedia Britannica. 1994 ed. Norton, Peter B. “hemophilia.” The
New Encyclopedia Britannica. 1994 ed. Thompson, Larry. “Cell transplant results
under fire.” Science 257 (24 July 1992) 472-474