Idiopathic edema in women

In fact, edema is a physical phenomenon that has many different situations. Some people have edema when they wake up in the morning, while some people have edema in the afternoon. But there is also a condition called idiopathic edema in women. This edema usually occurs in women, and what makes idiopathic edema different from other edema conditions is that its cause is very unclear. So what exactly does female idiopathic edema mean?

Idiopathic edema is a common type of edema. Edema can be classified into cardiogenic, renal, hepatic, malnutrition and other types. These edemas all have obvious causes. However, idiopathic edema is peculiar in that there is no clear cause to be found, and the exact cause of the disease is not very clear, so it is given the term "idiopathic". Although its cause has not yet been fully understood, from a pathophysiological point of view it is a water and salt metabolism disorder with an abnormal increase in extracellular fluid in the subcutaneous space. Fortunately, idiopathic edema usually does not have serious consequences, the condition often recurs, and generally does not show obvious progression. The disease also has unique clinical manifestations, with many clues to be found, and patients can use them to self-diagnose.

This disease tends to affect women, and most of the affected women are in their childbearing years, aged 20 to 50 years old. Edema is mostly mild to moderate and often cyclical, which shows that the body has a certain self-limiting effect on edema. After the edema develops to a certain extent, the body can excrete more water and salt, thereby recovering from the edema. The edema can be relieved after resting and lying down. Patients often have autonomic dysfunction, and may have varying degrees of nervousness, emotional instability, sweating, hot flashes, etc. The disease often develops after mental trauma or environmental changes. The body weight varies greatly within a day. The difference in weight in the early morning on an empty stomach and before going to bed at night (daily weight difference) is much different than that of normal people. The daily weight difference of normal people is mostly within 1kg, while that of the sick is often above 1.5kg, and in severe cases it can reach 3.0-5.0kg. About half of the patients have a tendency to obesity, which some people call water-salt retention obesity. Some patients may experience orthostatic hypotension.

Of course, it is worth emphasizing that before making a diagnosis of idiopathic edema, one should carefully rule out the possibility of other organic edema to avoid misdiagnosis.

The main characteristic of idiopathic edema is that the occurrence of edema is closely related to body position. It appears or worsens after standing or moving for a long time or eating salt, and gradually decreases to disappear after resting in a supine position. Edema often occurs in the morning, especially on the face and hands, and in the afternoon on the lower limbs and feet. In addition, the patient's weight changes greatly between morning and evening, and the weight before going to bed can increase by an average of 1 kg or more compared to when getting up. Although idiopathic edema has a long course, most cases can heal on their own.

Performance

1. Edema or puffiness: It is common in post-pubertal women. It often causes pitting edema of the feet, ankles, and anterior tibia after standing activities or in the afternoon. Some patients also experience morning eyelid and facial edema, and swelling of the distal upper limbs. The occurrence of edema in some patients is related to hot weather or the menstrual cycle. The weight before going to bed at night is greater than when getting up in the morning. After a night's sleep, the edema disappears and the weight is reduced. 2. Obesity: About half of the patients with idiopathic edema are obese, and edema further increases the patient's weight.

3. Headache: Intracranial edema may cause headache in patients.

4. Some patients with microvascular disorders may experience systemic pain similar to rheumatism after standing upright for a long time.

5. Orthostatic hypotension and manifestations of autonomic dysfunction may occur.