Health Care Guide :Preeclampsia during Pregnancy
Article Summary:
Preeclampsia is onset of high blood pressure (more than 140/90 mm of Hg) and protein in urine known as proteinuria (more than 300 mgs of protein in urine in 24 hours) after 20 weeks of gestation.
What is the cause of preeclampsia?
The actual cause or mechanism
Article Content:
What is preeclampsia?
Preeclampsia is onset of high blood pressure (more than 140/90 mm of Hg) and protein in urine known as proteinuria (more than 300 mgs of protein in urine in 24 hours) after 20 weeks of gestation.
What is the cause of preeclampsia?
The actual cause or mechanism of development of preeclampsia is not clearly known, but the main abnormality in preeclampsia is endothelial dysfunction, hypertension, and proteinuria, which is most like due to decreased secretion of placental growth factor, which is in turn due to excessive placental secretion of fms-like tyrosine kinase 1 which is a naturally occurring vascular endothelial growth factor antagonist and oppose the endothelial growth factor.
What are the risk factors of development of preeclampsia?
The risk factors which may be associated with increased chance of developing preeclampsia are nulliparity (single pregnancy or single child), prior history of preeclampsia, diabetes mellitus, history of renal disease, chronic essential hypertension, extremes of maternal age (more than 35 years or less than 15 years), obesity, angiotensinogen gene T235, G20210A prothrombin gene mutation, antiphospholipid antibody syndrome, and multiple pregnancy like twins or triplets. If a woman develops there is risk of stroke even at near normal blood pressure due to certain susceptibility.
What is severe preeclampsia?
Severe preeclampsia is onset of high blood pressure with proteinuria accompanied by symptoms like headaches, blurred vision, seizures, coma etc. The blood pressure is generally very high (more than 160/110 mm Hg), protein in urine or proteinuria is also very high (more than 5 grams per day or 24 hours), along with scanty urine volume or renal failure, pulmonary edema, liver injury, thrombocytopenia (with platelet count less than 100,000/ml) and/or DIC (disseminated intravascular coagulation).
Preeclampsia is considered if there is only new onset hypertension with proteinurai and edema without any of the symptoms/signs of severe preeclampsia mentioned above.
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