My husband was diagnosed with gout but his uric acid level was only a 7. what does this mean?

See below: A seven is at the top of the scale for normal for uric acid. If he had clinical symptoms to go with this he probably does have gout.

Wait and see: Consider the diagnosis of gout unproven unless uric acid crystals were aspirated from the joint or it responds dramatically to treatments that specifically target gout.

One can have gout: With a normal uric acid level. The level can be normal as the uric acid can be crystallizing in a joint and so there is less circulating in the blood. The diagnosis of gout is made by pathology not by blood work. If he does have gout your target level of uric acid in the blood should be below 6.

The time to draw: Blood for uric acid levels must be at least a week or two after the gout attack has completely resolved to be accurate. Blood levels taken too soon after an attack or certainly during an attack are falsely low. We now know a "true" uric acid of 6.5 or higher is enough to cause a gout attack.

Gout and uric acid 7: The risk of gout rises with height of uric acid level. Values above 5-6 are able to trigger gout. Other variables matter, such as diet, alcohol, joint stress, body weight. Help him modify risk. He can lower uric acid levels and reduce likelihood of further gout.