Not everybody with high levels of urate gets gout and some people get gout without high levels. It's not known why some people get gout and others don't. However, there are certain risk factors-if you:are a man 30-60; a woman past menopause, although women are much less likely to get gout; eat a diet that contains high levels of purines, commonly found in red meat and seafood; drink too much alcohol, take certain medicines, eg diuretics('water tablets'), which increase the flow of urine from your body; have a family history of gout; have kidney disease meaning that your kidneys don't pass enough urate out in your urine; are overweight.
Attribution: BUPA