What Are the Causes of an Elevated Uric Acid Level?

According the University of Michigan Health System, causes of an elevated uric acid level include some medical conditions, some drugs and medicines, too much purine in the diet, or how well your body gets rid of excess uric acid.

• Red meat is high in purines, which can lead to an elevated uric acid level.

What is Uric Acid?

• Uric acid forms as your body breaks down purines. Purines are organic compounds that occur naturally in the human body as part of the structure of genes. Many foods, particularly meats, are high in purines. Although normally the body gets rid of excess uric acid in the urine, sometimes the body's uric acid levels become too high, a condition called hyperuricemia.

Medical Conditions

• Kidney disease or kidney damage can cause an elevated uric acid level. Other causes are some types of cancer (including leukemia, lymphoma, and multiple myeloma) or cancer treatments, hemolytic anemia, sickle cell anemia, or heart failure. More conditions that can cause high uric acid are high alcohol consumption, preeclampsia (a condition sometimes experienced by pregnant women), liver disease, obesity, psoriasis, and low thyroid function. High uric acid levels can also be caused by starvation, malnutrition, lead poisoning, or a rare inherited gene disorder called Lesch-Nyhan syndrome.

Drugs

• Drugs or medicines that can elevate uric acid level include some diuretics (used to treat high blood pressure and water retention), vitamin C (ascorbic acid), low doses of aspirin (75 to 100 mg daily), niacin, the blood-thinning drug warfarin (such as Coumadin), some immunosuppressant drugs, and some drugs used to treat leukemia, lymphoma, or tuberculosis.

Purines

• If you eat too many foods that are high in purines, your body may not be able to get rid of the excess uric acid. Foods with particularly high purine levels include organ meats (liver, brains), red and game meats, some seafood (sardines, herring, scallops), and beer.

Individual Differences

• Some people's bodies just produce too much or cannot get rid of enough uric acid.