What Is Pre-Eclampsia?

: What is pre-eclampsia?

Toxemia or pre-eclampsia is one of the more common disorders that occurs in pregnancy. It's a disorder that's unique to pregnancy. It's associated most commonly with blood pressure elevations, edema or swelling, taking on extra fluid, and spilling protein into the urine. Those are the three classic symptoms. There are other symptoms that can go along with it. Typically, it tends to occur toward the latter part of pregnancy, and the only real way to treat it is delivery. Sometimes toxemia or pre-eclampsia, and the terms are generally interchangeable, occurs early and you can buy a little time, but you have to watch very closely for its progression, and if it progressives rapidly, then the only treatment, the only alternative is to deliver.

Proteins in the urine. What would the symptoms be?

Sometimes women don't have any symptoms and that's the problem. Many times women will describe a sudden increase in their swelling or a sudden increase in the amount of fluid that they feel like they've taken. Some women describe a headache, some visual changes, some upper quadrant pain, they'll describe, but many times, women don't have any symptoms whatsoever.