Essay/Term paper: Pre-eclampsia and eclampsia disorders in pregnant women

Essay, term paper, research paper:  Science Reports

Pre-Eclampsia and Eclampsia Disorders In Pregnant Women


Pre-eclampsia and eclampsia are disorders in pregnant women. Pre-
eclampsia is hypertension and eclampsia is the worsening of pre-eclampsia where
the woman experiences convulsions or goes into a coma. The complication of
eclampsia in a pregnant woman can put her and her unborn child at risk. A risk
that may be fatal. This is only to briefly define the disorders.
Furthermore, I predict that women who have suffered from eclampsia do
need future medical help due to the permanent damage caused in the physiological
make up of the body. I will prove this by means of statistics, nationwide
studies, and explaining the damage to the body.
To give a complete definition of eclampsia we must define pre-eclampsia.
Pre-eclampsia does not have chronic hypertension but becomes hypertensive in
late pregnancy. With pre-eclampsia a woman doesn't experience a coma or
convulsions, her blood pressure returns to normal after delivery. Although the
majority of women who experience pre-eclampsia never get eclampsia-if the blood
pressure gets out of hand suddenly, the disease may progress to eclampsia.
Eclampsia is pre-eclampsia that has progressed to the point of convulsions and
possible coma. Resulting in retardation for the child with lack of oxygenation
and other proteins to fetus.
A term that must be known is chronic hypertension due to increased
pressure in the arteries and often associated with atherosclerosis (collections
of fatty substances on the inside wall of the arteries). It is not caused by
pregnancy, but may cause problems if a woman with chronic hypertension becomes
pregnant. It has an unknown cause. 15% of the time chronic hypertension is
secondary to a primary problem-that is a renal disorder, heart disease,
endocrine disorder or some other condition is the cause of the hypertensive
disease. Women with chronic hypertension who become pregnant are in high risk.
Because of arterial narrowing the blood supply to the uterus is compromised and
growth and oxygenation of the fetus are jeopardized. Pre-eclampsia and
eclampsia are also likely to develop, with characteristic tissue swelling and
proteinuria. In extreme full flown eclampsia ( convulsions or coma) may occur.
Women with chronic hypertension are at higher risk for fetal growth retardation,
stillbirth and 4 to 5 grater risk for placental abruption. About 15% of women
with chronic hypertension with experience pre-eclampsia next to their usual
chronic hypertension.
To show how eclampsia is related to physics we must look at the fact
that eclampsia primarily comes about from hypertension. The swelling occurs:
when there is high quantity of sodium; H2O is attracted into the veins. The
walls of the veins are permeable to H2O at this point, starving the rest of the
cells of the body from water that later leads to seizures, weakening the brain
cells.(Just one example) When there are weak cells the functions of the body
seem to break down, affecting not only the mother, but the fetus as well.
Hypertension forms like this: there is direct proportion between
pressure and volume--when there is a large volume there will high pressure. In
relation to physics we have to speak of Fluids In Motion. We must picture fluid
in a tube: when there is a certain amount of volume going through a tube it's
going at a constant, if the volume increases the the flow will be more rapid
because the center of the diameter is less than that at either end-- according
to Bernoulli's Principle. Going back to eclampsia or pre-eclampsia we could see
this example when the volume of the blood increases, because of sodium and
attraction of water and so does the pressure. The speed of the blood
decreases and that's when the body looses oxygen and cells die because the
supplements don't arrive as needed causing the systems to break down. There is
a cycle when pressure in the body is not at a normal, it goes from the heart not
working hard enough and the brain begins to die. ( another subject) In a
Venturimetter we could calculate the speed of a fluid in the horizontal tube
from the difference in pressure in the vertical tubes. Where the speed of the
fluid is lower the pressure is higher; where the speed of the fluid is higher
the pressure is lower. Kinetic energy plays a role; where the speed of the
fluid increases and so does its kinetic energy.
Many women don't realize that pre-eclampsia can also begin during labor
or after deliver (one third of pre-eclampsia is manifested before labor, one
third of cases occur during and another one third take place during deliver).
After hearing the physiological theories behind high blood pressure, we get
into the symptoms. For pre-eclampsia the symptoms are high blood pressure or
swelling with rapid of weight gain, headaches, nervousness, intermittent blurred
vision and undue fatigue. These are reasons why blood pressure and weight and a
urinalysis are performed at each prenatal visit is to make sure pre-eclampsia is
not developing. Many of the symptoms are normal during pregnancy. The real
tests are blood pressure and the absence or presence of protein in the urine.
In eclampsia it's more severe; from convulsions to coma. There is
blindness, brain hemorrhaging, renal failure, hypertension and arrhythmia; the
damages are permanent that leave the mother having to change her life style
after the delivery of her child. As with pre-eclampsia, eclampsia can affect
every organ and body system, causing either permanent damage or death of the
mother and baby if not vigorously managed.
Preventive measures start with exercise and diet and frequent check-ups
if not hospitalized. In recent study a preventive measure for pre-eclampsia was
immunological intercourse. It is suggested that by increasing the duration of
sexual cohabitation before the first pregnancy with partner. It has been
observed that repeated exposure to male ejaculation may prevent pre-eclampsia.
In the study of 83 pre-eclamptics it had an average of 59.4 physiological
exposures to semen but the non pre-eclamptics control group of 55 had 191.6
exposures. A permanent cure is delivering the child and following up on both.
Some medications that are for convulsions are magnesium sulphate, diazepam,
phenytoin (magnesium sulphate being superior); all given intravenously.
Magnesium sulphate diminishes the risk of further nonfatal morbidity than other
agents. It is far better than phenytoin in preventing convulsions for
hypertensive pregnant women, according to The Must-Read Trial.
Eclampsia is a problem in undeveloped countries. It is relatively
uncommon in developed counties where it complicated about one in every 2000
deliveries. Eclampsia can be 20 times more common in developing countries, and
it probably accounts for more than 50000 maternal deaths world wide each year.
Here in the United Stated prenatal care is to prevent pre-eclampsia. That has
been going on since 1961.
To close my paper I must point out that the damages left behind the
disorder of eclampsia are dramatic and almost permanent. It is a disorder in
which the check-ups or prenatal are critical and must be kept up with to prevent
such disorder. Although this disorder rarely gets by any nurse or doctor here
in the U.S. it is a problem in other countries. My prediction has proven where
we see the numbers of women dying every year from eclipse. Most of the women
don't get to live with the side effects of eclampsia because they die.
Hypertension alone is a problem in 80% of the world population. Eclampsia is a
disorder better prevented that cured.
Pre-eclampsia and eclampsia are disorders in pregnant women. Pre-
eclampsia is hypertension and eclampsia is the worsening of pre-eclampsia where
the woman experiences convulsions or goes into a coma. The complication of
eclampsia in a pregnant woman can put her and her unborn child at risk. A risk
that may be fatal. This is only to briefly define the disorders.
Furthermore, I predict that women who have suffered from eclampsia do
need future medical help due to the permanent damage caused in the physiological
make up of the body. I will prove this by means of statistics, nationwide
studies, and explaining the damage to the body.
To give a complete definition of eclampsia we must define pre-eclampsia.
Pre-eclampsia does not have chronic hypertension but becomes hypertensive in
late pregnancy. With pre-eclampsia a woman doesn't experience a coma or
convulsions, her blood pressure returns to normal after delivery. Although the
majority of women who experience pre-eclampsia never get eclampsia-if the blood
pressure gets out of hand suddenly, the disease may progress to eclampsia.
Eclampsia is pre-eclampsia that has progressed to the point of convulsions and
possible coma. Resulting in retardation for the child with lack of oxygenation
and other proteins to fetus.
A term that must be known is chronic hypertension due to increased
pressure in the arteries and often associated with atherosclerosis (collections
of fatty substances on the inside wall of the arteries). It is not caused by
pregnancy, but may cause problems if a woman with chronic hypertension becomes
pregnant. It has an unknown cause. 15% of the time chronic hypertension is
secondary to a primary problem-that is a renal disorder, heart disease,
endocrine disorder or some other condition is the cause of the hypertensive
disease. Women with chronic hypertension who become pregnant are in high risk.
Because of arterial narrowing the blood supply to the uterus is compromised and
growth and oxygenation of the fetus are jeopardized. Pre-eclampsia and
eclampsia are also likely to develop, with characteristic tissue swelling and
proteinuria. In extreme full flown eclampsia ( convulsions or coma) may occur.
Women with chronic hypertension are at higher risk for fetal growth retardation,
stillbirth and 4 to 5 grater risk for placental abruption. About 15% of women
with chronic hypertension with experience pre-eclampsia next to their usual
chronic hypertension.
To show how eclampsia is related to physics we must look at the fact
that eclampsia primarily comes about from hypertension. The swelling occurs:
when there is high quantity of sodium; H2O is attracted into the veins. The
walls of the veins are permeable to H2O at this point, starving the rest of the
cells of the body from water that later leads to seizures, weakening the brain
cells.(Just one example) When there are weak cells the functions of the body
seem to break down, affecting not only the mother, but the fetus as well.
Hypertension forms like this: there is direct proportion between
pressure and volume--when there is a large volume ther