Edema is an accumulation of excess amounts of water or fluids in the cells and tissues of the body. In put it simply, edema is swelling which happens because of the retention of excessive fluid amounts in the tissues of the body. It generally takes place in the legs, feet, arms, hands, as well as in the ankles.
Apart from the facts mentioned above edema can happen in the abdomen, lungs, and the chest peritoneal cavity. Edema in the lungs is normally named pulmonary edema and it is mostly evolved by different heart failures. Edema is very frequently a manifestation of some other underlying disorders of such body organs as heart, kidneys and liver. An individual who suffers from these disorders have difficulties with processing as well as with removing excess salt amounts from the body. The blood circulation gets blocked or lowered in patients with heart disorders. It affects the function of kidneys to remove excessive fluids, thus retaining salt water.
Causes of edema
- While exercising, walking, running the body muscles contract to promote the blood flow. If the muscles are not utilized for a long time, blood collects making it hard for fluids to flow from the body tissues to the blood vessels.
- The body needs a particular salt concentration in the tissues. If salt intake is high, the retention of excessive salt can be manifested as edema.
- Some medicines such as anti-inflammatory medications, hormone replacement drugs, some blood pressure drugs and steroids may cause edema.
- Heart disorders block and decrease the flow of blood in the circulatory system. Thus the excessive fluid pressure in the vessels might make the fluids shift to the interstitial areas.
- To maintain a normal balance of protein concentration, in malnourished patients, fluids might shift out of the vessels and provoke edema in the body tissues.
- Thyroid as well as other liver disorders might alter fluid concentration of proteins in the blood, and thereby cause edema.
- Kidneys malfunction retains fluids resulting in edema.
Edema types
There are actually 2 edema types; and they are pitting and non-pitting. When a swollen zone shows an indentation in reaction to pressure that stays for long, in this case the edema will be pitting. In case there is no indentation when pressed, in this case the edema will be identified as non-pitting. Lymphatic system disorders can provoke non-pitting edema.