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Tackling Toxemia

Toxemia is a Common Pregnancy Disorder

By Katherine Bontrager

What can moms-to-be do to help avoid the frightening experience Ontiveroz had to endure? And what do we really know about this dangerous and mysterious illness?

"Toxemia, or what we refer to as preeclampsia, is an obstetrical syndrome that occurs unfortunately in humans only," says Dr. Abdulla Al-Khan, the director of perinatal diagnostics and therapeutics at Hackensack University Medical Center in Hackensack, N.J. "There are no other primates that can develop this syndrome and so our understanding of this disease is in a way limited."

Dr. Al-Khan says the syndrome can start gradually or come on suddenly. "Its complications can be extensive to the mother," he says. "It can affect every organ system in the female patient, causing, for example, stroke, renal failure, convulsions, coagulation abnormalities, blindness and more. In terms of the fetus, the complications can include growth restriction, placental separation that could lead to infant death or other [effects]."

Dr. Robert Atlas, chairman of the department of obstetrics and gynecology at Mercy Medical Center in Baltimore, Md., says the symptoms can vary greatly between patients. "Not all preeclampsia is the same," he says. "Some women develop seizures right away. However, the most common symptoms are headache, blurry vision, the sense of not feeling well and swelling in non-dependent extremities, though this has been removed from the diagnostic criteria. There also may be epigastric pain, right upper quadrant pain, nausea and vomiting."

And if the issue of symptoms seems hazy at best, the cause of this illness is even less understood. "The exact cause is still unknown," admits Dr. Atlas. "We believe there are a number of theories as to why it happens. There are genetic components, immunologic components that cause the placenta to attach abnormally to the uterus. W've identified a number of markers that are associated with preeclampsia ... however, these may just be markers for the disease and not the cause."

Want to see more?

• Nutrition is Key: Prevent Complications and Give Birth to a Healthy Baby
• Managing Preeclampsia
• The Value of Doula Support: Caring, Comforting and Empowering
• Talk about it!

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