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 Venturi meter 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.
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