Toxemia or pre eclampsia is a sudden rise of blood pressure or hypertension together with a high level of protein in urine which is normally happens to first time mother to be. Usually pre eclampsia affects pregnant mothers from the last days of five months of pregnancy to nine months of pregnancy.
Our blood pressure measures the intensity of blood that pushes to the arterial wall. When the arterial wall is push too hard the blood pressure is elevated and this is what we call hypertension. Our blood pressures are shown as systolic and diastolic. Systolic is the term use to the force of our heart when it pumps out blood. Diastolic on the other hand is the term use when our heart relaxes and fills our heart with blood. Basically the normal blood pressure is between 100/60 to 120/80. Beyond and below this pressure, needs a medical intervention.
The true cause of pre eclampsia until now is being studied by the experts, though it has been linked to poor nutrition. That food that is rich in fats plays a major part in developing pre eclampsia. Studies also believe that another possible cause of pre eclampsia is insufficient blood flow to the uterus.
A woman is susceptible of developing pre eclampsia if, it is her first pregnancy, a woman who gets pregnant after the age of forty years old, a woman who has history of hypertension, a woman who already had pre eclampsia on her previous pregnancy, those woman who are obese, a woman who is carrying twin pregnancy, a woman who has history of diabetes.
Aside from body swelling, proteinuria and hypertension pre eclampsia may also manifest these symptoms:
• Abdominal pain
• Severe headache
• Inconsistent reflexes
• No urine out put, or little urine while urinating
• Dizziness and fainting
• Nausea and vomiting
When a pregnant woman is suffering from pre eclampsia, the baby is greatly affected because the placenta cannot absorb food well. Babies who are born with mothers who have pre eclampsia suffer from malnutrition. Pre eclampsia is now the leading cause of prematurity and sometimes this condition will lead to abortion