What causes Toxemia during Pregnancy?

Running Head : What causes toxemia during pregnancy

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25th July 2010

Introduction

Toxemia is a medical condition that affects women after 20 weeks of pregnancy . It is a pregnancy induced hypertension that begins to develop after the placenta starts forming . This complication has no known cause but is often characterized by sudden high blood pressures in pregnant women , and excess proteins in their urine and hyper-reflexia (Wallace 2010

The condition affects approximately 6 to 8 women out of every 100 pregnant women , which is around

8 . Women with more than one fetus those over the age of 40 years , young mothers , women with nutrition disorders are at a higher risk of suffering from the toxemia . The condition is likely to affect women at their first pregnancies and the effects may be dangerous if not treated early . It begins to develop when the placenta starts developing and is detected at the late stages of the pregnancy (Carver , 2008 . According to Carver the condition starts with high blood pressure of around 140 /90 , the hands , feet and face starts to bloat due to the fluids retained in the body . Toxemia also causes liver and kidney complications , eye defects it goes untreated , and convulsions which may result in death , and women who have been previously diagnosed for diabetes (Pourtauborde , 2003

Presently there is no cure for toxemia and the only solution maybe induced delivery if the baby is mature . The condition may be controlled if it is detected at its early...