Preeclampsia or gestosis: symptoms, therapy and risk during pregnancy
Preeclampsia is a complication of pregnancy also known as "gestosis" and which can pose a risk to both women and the baby. Preeclampsia manifests itself with symptoms such as arterial hypertension (ie high blood pressure), the presence of protein in the urine detected during routine tests and, in some cases, with disorders ranging from headache to vomiting, from vision problems to tremors, from abdominal pain to weight gain (even more than 5 kg within a week).
About 5% of women during pregnancy suffer from preeclampsia in Europe, and the most relevant risk factors are - according to what reported by the "Istituto Superiore della Sanità" - the advanced age of the mother, her obesity or presence of chronic diseases such as diabetes.
The causes of preeclampsia have not yet been fully identified, making it very difficult for doctors to diagnose this complication.Doctors are called to pay particular attention to women who have the aforementioned risk factors, trying to identify a possible preeclampsia promptly. The risk, in fact, if the diagnosis is not made early, is high for both the mother and the child: it is a disease that should not be underestimated, due to a blood pressure problem. Pregnant women themselves have the right to be informed about this disease and the related risks.
Let's look together, then, more closely at what are the symptoms with which gestosis presents itself, the causes, how to make the diagnosis, identify the right therapy and how to prevent this disease. In the meantime, here's a video on the things not to do during pregnancy:
Symptoms of preeclampsia
The symptoms of preeclampsia tend to occur, in a first phase, in a milder form, and for this reason they should not be underestimated, but reported immediately to the gynecologist so that he can proceed with the necessary investigations without wasting time.
Common symptoms of gestosis include headache, blurred vision, nausea and vomiting, pain under the ribs and / or in the liver, tremor in the hands, excessive weight gain (as anticipated, it is possible that they will take even more of 5 kg within a week).
These symptoms usually never appear before the 20th week of pregnancy. They generally tend to appear towards the end of pregnancy or, in any case, after the 24th week. In rarer cases, however, preeclampsia can also occur in the first six weeks after giving birth.
If you experience any of the symptoms described, contact the doctor who is following you immediately: even if in most cases the gestosis resolves after the birth, it always carries the risk of serious complications for the mother and the baby during the birth itself.
What are the causes and risk factors of preeclampsia?
As we said, the causes of preeclampsia have not yet been identified by the scientific community, which however recognizes, at the root of the disease, an "alteration in the development of the placenta and its blood vessels. This alteration can seriously compromise the exchange of nourishment between the "maternal organism and the fetus, slowing its growth and development.
Even if we do not know well the causes of gestosis, we can in any case point out some of the risk factors that in most cases were decisive in the onset of the disease: the presence of preeclampsia in a previous pregnancy or having had relatives and family members who have suffered from it previously; suffering from high blood pressure (hypertension), kidney disease, diabetes, antiphospholipid antibody syndrome; being over 40 years old; a twin pregnancy; suffering from obesity or, in any case, a significant overweight.
How to diagnose preeclampsia?
The signs that allow a doctor to identify preeclampsia during pregnancy are the presence of protein in the urine and arterial hypertension, also called gestational hypertension. Gestosis, however, can also be diagnosed if a reduction in platelets is detected. , damage to liver function, kidney failure or the onset of neurological symptoms.
Your doctor will then proceed, if he suspects preeclampsia, with the control of your blood pressure and the prescription of blood and urine tests: these simple tests will be enough to highlight the presence of the disease. The pressure, on the other hand, is detected in every follow-up visit to pregnant women, and especially in those who have the risk factors we have listed.
What is the right therapy in case of preeclampsia?
If the only symptom detected by the doctor is gestational hypertension, it will be good to monitor the pregnant woman and visit her regularly, but no further tests are necessary and she can safely go home. If, on the other hand, a diagnosis of preeclampsia is ascertained, it will be good to do further tests such as blood pressure monitoring, check the health of the child, tests for the functionality of the liver and kidneys, and so on based on the clinical picture.
The Istituto Superiore della Sanità assures that the only real cure for preeclampsia is childbirth, because it protects the woman from the onset of any complications. idea of inducing childbirth. If the preeclampsia is severe, immediate delivery is still the best solution, and is carried out after stabilizing the conditions of the pregnant woman with a drug treatment. You will be given corticosteroid medications that can help the baby develop lungs by the time of birth.
Gestosis can affect women even after childbirth, and it is therefore good to keep them under control even after the baby is born, by administering antihypertensive drugs to them. High blood pressure, however, resolves within the first six weeks after delivery.
How to prevent preeclampsia?
Since the causes of preeclampsia are not fully known, it is impossible to prevent it completely and really effectively, if not by reducing the risk factors. So be careful to take care of your diet by reducing the salt intake, limiting calories and taking vitamins in the right daily quantity.
Are preeclampsia and eclampsia the same thing?
Eclampsia is not synonymous with preeclampsia, but it represents one of the worst forms: eclampsia is in fact one of the complications of gestosis that most frighten pregnant women. It manifests itself with convulsions frequently associated with mental confusion, visual impairment and states of coma In some cases it can even be lethal.
Eclampsia is a multi-systemic syndrome in which, together with arterial hypertension and the presence of proteins in the urine, are present at the same time also that of edema especially in the lower limbs, extremities, face and trunk. As well as for preeclampsia, the cause is not known, but risk factors are present: genetic predisposition, the presence of diseases or dysfunctions in the blood circulation, poor nutrition.
One of the reasons why women suffering from preeclampsia must be constantly monitored is precisely the desire to prevent gestosis from worsening to the point of becoming the terrible eclampsia. According to statistics, 90% of women affected by eclampsia show the first symptoms during the 28th week of pregnancy and 80% of these women experience convulsions during childbirth or after childbirth. Fortunately, eclampsia is quite rare: according to the estimates occur in one pregnancy for every two thousand / three thousand pregnancies.
For more scientific information on preeclampsia, you can consult the website of the Istituto Superiore di Sanità.
