What is Uric Acid?

When more uric acid forms than the body can get rid of, it builds up in the blood. In excess, uric acid can crystallise in a joint, which is what causes gout.

eGFR and Creatinine describe how well the kidneys, the main route out, are filtering. Filtering is only part of the picture: the kidneys take most of the uric acid they filter back into the blood, and how much they keep can change while filtering stays steady. A uric acid change with steady eGFR and Creatinine points away from a filtering problem, but cannot on its own say whether the body is making more or passing out less.

Diet supplies purines directly, mainly through red meat, organ meat and seafood, with alcohol adding to that supply and beer most of all. Fructose in drinks and food works differently, speeding up the breakdown of purines into uric acid. Higher body weight raises how much uric acid the body makes and reduces how much the kidney passes out.

Purine-rich food and alcohol shift uric acid within hours to days, while a change in kidney function moves it over days to weeks. Measuring about every four months tells a change tied to habitual diet or kidney function apart from the swing one rich meal or drinking session produces. This is Do Health's monitoring schedule, not a general recommendation for everyone.