Causes, Symptoms and Treatments of Toxemia

One of the rarer pregnancy related conditions, Toxemia, sometimes called Preclamsia can be a dangerous health risk during pregnancy. Toxemia is what physicians refer to as pregnancy induced hyper tension. It occurs in approximately 5% of all pregnancies. Some of the characteristics of typical toxemia include high blood pressure, fluid retention especially in the later half of pregnancy and protein present in the urine. Toxemia is more likely to occur in first pregnancies and after the 20th week of fetal gestation. Complications from Toxemia can include jaundice or yellowing of the eyes and skin, severe headaches, excessive weight gain associated with fluid retention especially in the face and hands or ankles, blurred vision and easy bleeding or bruising. Severe cases can cause restriction of blood flow to the placenta causing harm to the unborn fetus, seizures in the mother, coma or even death of either the mother or the fetus.

The exact causes of Toxemia are not known at the present. Possible causes and risk factors for devolving Toxemia include women experiencing their first pregnancy, women carrying multiple fetus, women already diagnosed with high blood pressure, women over 40, teenage mothers, a maternal history of toxemia and women with eating disorders. African American women have a higher risk of developing toxemia during pregnancy. Some research indicates that Toxemia can also be linked to the fetus's paternal mother or siblings as well. Other conditions that can contribute to the development of toxemia include autoimmune disorders, blood vessel problems, genes, diet, a preexisting diagnosis of diabetes and prior kidney disease. Since any pregnant woman can develop toxemia even without these risk factors, health care providers will screen for toxemia symptoms during regular prenatal checkups by testing urine and blood serum samples.