CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background
High levels of uric acid in bloodstream, also known as hyperuricemia often cause renal
disorders due to the impairment of uric acid excretion, Gout arthritis due to monosodium
urate crystal deposition in joints and metabolic syndrome consisting of cardiovascular
diseases, insulin resistance and type 2 Diabetes Mellitus, until non-alcoholic fatty liver
disease (El Ridi and Tallima, 2017). A research among 237 patients who suffer from Gout
arthritis shows that at least one traditional cardiovascular disease risk factor such as
hypertension and dyslipidemia are found in 92% of them (Vedder et al., 2019). Another
research conducted in 2020 shows that there has been an increase of hyperuricemia related
disease burden by at least 2% worldwide in the matter of at least 1 year. People who are
vulnerable to this condition are citizens of countries with high income, people with high
purine diet, and postmenopausal women who has lower level of estrogen hormone needed
to maintain the physiology of urate removal (Li, Zhang and Zeng, 2020).
Not only that hyperuricemia causes conditions mentioned above, it also affects people’s
health-related quality of life as it is often gone undiagnosed due to the lack of early
symptoms (Raja et al., 2019). For example, metabolic syndrome as one of the main
manifestations of hyperuricemia cause poor performance of physical activities and health in
general. Bodily pain caused by hypertension, difficulty moving caused by obesity, and
impairment of joint function in Gout arthritis modified by sociodemographic characteristics
such as income, assumed health status, and education affect people’s function as member
of the society and therefore cause alterations in health-related quality of life (Chandratre et
al., 2018; Chen et al., 2020).
Low purine diet is a form of diet that aims to treat hyperuricemia by maintaining or
lowering the levels of uric acid in bloodstream. By intervening diet and lifestyle through
controlling consumption of food that contains purine such as avoiding food with purine
above 100 mg/100 g products and lowering consumption amount of food with 9-100 mg
purine/100 g products (moderate purine contents), an observation in 2005 concluded that
uric acid levels in bloodstream in subjects from various age groups are lowered
significantly (Vedder et al., 2019). Overall, conditions caused by high levels of uric acid in
 bloodstream is hoped to be prevented, treated, and rehabilitated by changing lifestyle, one
of which through low purine diet which is the main topic of this student project.
1.2 Problems
The problems to be discussed:
1. What is low purine diet?
2. How is the epidemiology and prevalence of low purine diet implementation?
3. What are the purpose and benefits of low purine diet?
4. What are the hazardous considerations in implementing low purine diet?
5. What are the special precautions in implementing low purine diet?
6. What are the proper suggestions to give to people in connection with low purine diet
practice?
7. How to implement low purine diet effectively and what are the examples of food to
consume in this particular diet?
1.3 Objectives
The main objectives of this paper are:
1. To have an understanding about low purine diet.
2. To comprehend the epidemiology and prevalence of low purine diet implementation.
3. To comprehend the purpose and benefits of low purine diet.
4. To understand the hazardous considerations in implementing low purine diet.
5. To understand the special precautions in implementing low purine diet.
6. To know and be able to give proper suggestions to people in connection with low
purine diet practice.
7. To comprehend the effective implementation of low purine diet and examples of food
to consume in this particular diet.
1.4 Benefits

The benefits of the paper are as follows.

1. Inform and educate the public about low purine diet.
2. Gain more knowledge and raise awareness about hyperuricemia and low purine diet as
a way to help treat the condition.
3. Can be used as basic information about low purine diet for further research.
REFERENCES
Chandratre, P. et al. (2018) ‘Health-related quality of life in gout in primary care: Baseline
findings from a cohort study’, Seminars in Arthritis and Rheumatism. Elsevier Inc., 48(1), pp.
61–69. doi: 10.1016/j.semarthrit.2017.12.005.
Chen, S. H. et al. (2020) ‘Abdominal obesity and hypertension are correlated with health-related
quality of life in Taiwanese adults with metabolic syndrome’, BMJ Open Diabetes Research and
Care, 8(1), pp. 1–10. doi: 10.1136/bmjdrc-2019-000947.
Li, L., Zhang, Y. and Zeng, C. (2020) ‘Update on the epidemiology, genetics, and therapeutic
options of hyperuricemia’, American Journal of Translational Research.
Raja, S. et al. (2019) ‘Frequency of Hyperuricemia and its Risk Factors in the Adult Population’,
Cureus, 11(3). doi: 10.7759/cureus.4198.
El Ridi, R. and Tallima, H. (2017) ‘Physiological functions and pathogenic potential of uric acid:
A review’, Journal of Advanced Research. Cairo University, 8(5), pp. 487–493. doi:
10.1016/j.jare.2017.03.003.
Vedder, D. et al. (2019) ‘Dietary interventions for gout and effect on cardiovascular risk factors:
A systematic review’, Nutrients, 11(12), pp. 1–19. doi: 10.3390/nu11122955.