In the last months of gestation, fluid accumulates in the tissues of 90% of women. During the examination, doctors always pay attention to the patient’s swollen limbs or excess weight. Many questions arise about what is dangerous about severe swelling during pregnancy? Why do doctors pay such close attention to this symptom? What could be hidden behind such an insignificant sign?

Causes of edema during pregnancy

• pressure of the growing uterus on the pelvic area;
• increased blood volume;
• change in hormonal levels;
• production of progesterone and estrogen;
• decreased vascular permeability.

There is a risk of swelling, which is caused by disruption of the internal organs. Such a symptom in the later stages is dangerous for the child. Severe edema during pregnancy is characterized by the formation of various pathologies:

• Preeclampsia is a disease of pregnant women when blood vessels, as a result of high load, lose their elasticity and strength. Protein and fluid penetrate from the circulatory system into the soft tissues, and hidden edematous reactions occur that cannot be immediately detected. Due to the lack of water in the bloodstream, the body increases blood pressure, clotting increases, and the blood becomes thicker. The disease is dangerous due to the appearance of blood clots, both for the life of the mother and the baby.
• Kidney diseases are dangerous for the fetus due to disruption of the functioning of the urinary system. Toxins and waste products are not removed in a timely manner and accumulate in the tissues. With this pathology, edema is manifested by puffiness of the face and swelling of the eyelids in the morning after a night's sleep.
• Diseases of the cardiovascular system are characterized by the appearance of edema in the late afternoon, and it is necessary to pay attention to the accompanying symptoms so as not to miss the development of a serious disease.

What edema is dangerous during pregnancy?

1. Swelling of the nasal mucosa occurs due to increased production of progesterone and estrogen. In this case, no changes are observed in the mucous membrane, only difficult dry breathing. If there is heavy discharge, this often indicates the occurrence of a cold. Treatment involves using saline solution to rinse the sinuses.
2. Facial swelling often indicates renal dysfunction, the development of glomerulonephritis, pyelonephritis or chronic failure. With this pathology, water initially accumulates in the eyelid area, a pasty appearance occurs on the face, and then the liquid moves to the limbs.
3. Swelling of the arms and legs during pregnancy indicates poor circulation, numbness in the limbs and tingling in the fingers. The cause of the pathology is often the lack of physical activity in a woman’s daily life. It is not uncommon for the legs to accumulate fluid in the late afternoon, as the force of gravity acts. By morning, the water accumulated in the tissues of the hands and feet passes on its own. In this case, it will be enough to adjust your diet and eliminate salt from your diet.
4. The accumulation of water on the labia does not pose a danger to the formation of the baby inside the womb. The situation is caused by the constantly growing uterus, which puts pressure on the genitourinary system, which causes blood stagnation and threatens the development of varicose veins, which happens quite rarely.

Preventive actions

Food consumption should be divided into several meals, about 5-7 times a day, but in small portions. The main part of the diet should be fruits and vegetables. If a woman leads a sedentary lifestyle, then it is necessary to engage in moderate physical activity (yoga, fitness, swimming pool). You need to adjust your sleep schedule so that your night's rest is at least 8 hours.

To remove water from tissues, you can use folk methods, various decoctions based on rose hips, cranberries or lingonberries. If additional symptoms are present, doctors decide on treatment in a hospital using drug therapy.

Summer is the time when you can finally take a break from work and everyday worries at sea or in the country. But along with the holiday season comes intense heat that gives no rest, day or night. Those who live in the urban jungle especially suffer from high temperatures, where the hot asphalt becomes stuffy and the air temperature rises several degrees higher than in the countryside. Even 20 minutes of exposure to the scorching rays of the sun can result in severe burns.

How does extreme heat affect people?

High temperatures are a serious test for humans. When a street thermometer shows 30°C or more, changes occur in the body that have a detrimental effect on well-being and health:
. Sweat is produced more actively - sweating is necessary for a person to cool the body. But in extreme heat it becomes abundant. Sweat production increases 4-5 times. The same condition is observed when a person does physical work, climbs stairs and plays sports. Excessive sweating leads to disruption of water and salt balance. And as a result, the body becomes dehydrated. Due to lack of fluid, cells, brain and other organs suffer.

Elderly people, young children, hypertensive patients and heart patients, whose body does not control heat exchange, especially suffer from the summer heat.

The skin temperature rises - as a result of overheating of the integument, large heat loss occurs.
. Breathing and heart rate increase - during abnormal heat, a person feels a lack of oxygen.
. Cerebral circulation is disrupted - due to high temperatures, less blood enters the brain than usual. And this is fraught with headaches, dizziness and even stroke.

It is also worth adding that abnormal temperatures put a person in a stressful state. He suffers from insomnia, sudden mood swings and fears. Often experiences anxiety, dissatisfaction and irritability. Now let’s look at what health problems extreme heat can cause.

Heatstroke and sunstroke are frequent “guests” of hot summers

High temperatures are favorable conditions for sunstroke or heatstroke. Such painful conditions have a negative impact on the human body.

The victim experiences the following unpleasant symptoms:
. body temperature rises to 39-40 °C;
. heart rate increases;
. headache;
. dizziness, nausea and vomiting appear;
. cold sweat appears;
. facial skin turns red;
. loss of strength occurs.

Sunstroke and heatstroke are insidious in that they often lead to convulsions and loss of consciousness. And in especially severe cases, they can result in coma and even death.

Despite the common symptoms, sunstroke and heatstroke are different from each other. Thus, a person receives the first condition as a result of prolonged exposure to sunlight on the unprotected surface of the head. In this case, sweating is disrupted, blood vessels dilate, and blood stagnates in the brain. As for heat stroke, it can occur in an enclosed area with high air temperature and low humidity.
If you notice the first symptoms of sunstroke or heatstroke, you must act immediately. The first step is to take the patient or take him away from the sun or other source of intense heat to a cooler place. This can be in the shade or in a room with a comfortable temperature, sufficient oxygen and normal humidity levels. Then you should remove the victim from clothing to allow the skin to cool, and lay him down so that his legs are higher than his head. If the person is conscious, give him water at room temperature to drink and apply a cold compress to his head. This could be a cold water bottle or ice cubes. Next, provide the victim with complete rest. If he loses consciousness, call an ambulance.

Problems of the heart and blood vessels: from blood pressure to heart attack

Abnormal heat most often “hits” heart patients and hypertensive patients. At high air temperatures, additional stress falls on the heart and blood vessels. Hypertensive patients experience surges in blood pressure, and those who suffer from coronary heart disease experience angina attacks, which are accompanied by sharp pain in the chest area. It is also not uncommon for extreme heat to lead to heart attacks or even heart attacks.

Rapid heartbeat, increased sweating, a feeling of lack of air and tightness in the chest - these are the symptoms that people with cardiovascular diseases suffer in the summer heat.

How to protect yourself from the serious consequences of the summer heat? Everything is very simple: you need to avoid being in the sun during its peak activity - from 12:00 to 16:00, wear light, loose and light clothes, preferably made of natural materials: linen, cotton or silk, and also do not forget about a hat. As for quenching your thirst, instead of coffee and carbonated drinks, give your preference to plain water, green tea, compotes and fruit drinks.

Throat and lung problems in extreme heat

Abnormally high air temperatures in summer also harm those who suffer from bronchitis, pneumonia, bronchial asthma or other chronic respiratory diseases. The person feels an acute lack of oxygen. He is literally suffocating.

Also, often in the summer, children and adults suffer from colds, sore throats and pneumonia. This is due to the consumption of large quantities of cold drinks and ice cream, as well as being under air conditioning or in front of a draft. Sore throat is dangerous because if complicated, it can lead to disability, and pneumonia can lead to weakening of the entire body and even death.

To avoid such consequences, observe the following preventive measures:
. Don't sit directly under the air conditioner.
. Do not drink ice water in greedy sips. It is better to quench your thirst with cool water and small sips.
. Avoid drafts.
Awareness of the dangers of extreme heat in summer will allow you to take better care of your health and prevent serious consequences.

Instructions

Emotional experiences manifest themselves in different ways. Joy and fun cause motor excitement, acceleration of mental processes, and a feeling of cheerfulness and energy. With negative emotions, psychomotor delay and slow perception appear. Not only negative emotions can be dangerous. Any unbalanced emotional experiences can cause various pathologies.

Among the types of emotions, there are weak ones - moods and feelings, and strong ones - affects and passions, as well as negative ones - stress. A person is practically unable to control affects and passions. These are rapidly flowing emotional experiences that significantly affect human physiology.

Strong emotional experiences most noticeably affect the functioning of the cardiovascular system. It is not for nothing that the heart has always been considered the organ responsible for feelings. During pronounced emotional experiences, a person’s heart rate slows down or increases, blood pressure decreases or increases, and vascular tone changes. Such reactions can lead to heart attacks, strokes, hypertensive crises, etc.

Changes in the functioning of various organs and systems are controlled by the sympathetic nervous system, the stimulation of which during strong emotional experiences leads to the release of adrenaline. Adrenaline causes serious changes in the functioning of many body systems: blood drains from internal organs, breathing quickens, the functioning of the digestive organs slows down, and blood sugar levels increase. Such reactions can cause diseases of the gastrointestinal tract, nervous system, and respiratory organs.

Strong emotional experiences, especially negative and long-term ones, lead to a reduction in the number of T-lymphocytes in the body that protect the body from viruses and bacteria. Due to decreased immunity, a person becomes practically defenseless against various infections.

Negative emotional experiences also affect a person’s mental state. Long-term stress causes depression, despair, depression, melancholy, decreased self-esteem, etc. In depression, a person experiences a feeling of guilt, motivation and volitional activity decrease, lack of initiative, lethargy, and fatigue appear. In this state, a person may have a nervous breakdown and may attempt suicide.

Tip 2: How resentment can affect a person’s mental and physical well-being

Resentment itself is a negative emotion. When we are offended, we experience negative emotions that can create an imbalance in our inner world.

When we feel resentment, we withdraw into ourselves, poisoning ourselves from the inside with it. By offense we understand a situation where, in our opinion, we have been unfairly upset or insulted. And we are also able to get this feeling when the same applies to a person close to us energetically, projecting his feeling of resentment onto ourselves, as if sharing it with him.

In any case, the feeling of resentment has an extremely negative effect on us. It can also worsen our health. Unspoken, unreleased negative thoughts and emotions from resentment can cause disturbances in the functioning of the cardiovascular, respiratory and nervous systems, and can also provoke a number of allergic reactions.

How can we learn to deal with this toxin called “resentment”? You can, of course, walk around, sulk, strengthen yourself, overcome and internalize this negativity, learn to live with it, and in the end forget about it completely, until another similar incident occurs again. Then another portion will be added to this snowball, thanks to which self-esteem and faith in people will once again suffer.

The simplest and most effective way out of the situation is to resolve it on the spot. No matter how scary, tiring or unreasonable it may be, it is worth doing. Firstly, it will teach you to fight for your honor. This is not about fighting, but about diplomatic negotiations. Demand that the offender substantiate his statement. As a rule, after this the applicant is a little lost and feels out of place. And secondly, sometimes we are simply offended by what, in fact, has been conveyed to us incorrectly. Always check.

In everyday life, we use the word “stress” as a synonym for strong excitement and worry. But from a medical point of view, this concept is much broader. Stress is one of the body's adaptation mechanisms to environmental influences, a reaction to any irritating factors: problems at work, exams, hunger, lack of sleep, even fluctuations in atmospheric pressure.

In response to this or that irritation, a general mobilization begins in the body: the brain sends an alarm signal, stress hormones are released into the blood: adrenaline, norepinephrine and cortisol.

From a neurological point of view, there are two main reactions to stress - doctors conventionally call them “attack” and “flight”.

In the first case, finding yourself in an uncomfortable situation, a person begins to actively act and mobilize. History knows many examples of creative people creating great works under stress. Mozart's "Requiem", Brahms' symphonies, Beethoven's sonatas are a vivid example of this. Athletes also experience stress during competitions, and for many it is precisely this that helps them win.

The second reaction, on the contrary, involves avoiding the problem. Once in a difficult situation, a person wants to get rid of it. He needs to switch to something else, and then the solution will come to him. Such a reaction, like an “attack,” is normal and physiological from a medical point of view.

By the way

Stress has its own power scale. And it doesn’t matter what caused it - joy or grief. Wedding or divorce, dismissal or promotion - everything has its own “price”, which is different for everyone. It all depends on where this or that event is located in the hierarchy of values, as well as on the individual safety margin of the organism.

Important

Stress hormones (primarily adrenaline) have a stimulating effect on the immune system, activate the heart, deepen breathing. And in this sense, stress is an excellent simulator that allows you to keep your body in shape.

However, there is also a negative form of stress - distress. It occurs if the body's resources are insufficient to adequately respond to external irritation. Distress is usually considered a chronic, prolonged stay in a state of stress, when a person is significantly overtired or constantly experiences pronounced negative emotions: anxiety, excitement, humiliation, etc. In any case, distress leads to exhaustion of the body and is harmful to health.

Test yourself

Sure signs of distress are:

• inability to concentrate on something;
• absent-mindedness, forgetfulness;
• increased excitability, irritability;
• speech impairment (stuttering, confusion of words, frequent repetition of the same thing);
• a sharp increase in the number of cigarettes smoked and doses of alcohol;
• loss of appetite or, conversely, a craving for overeating;
• change in the perception of time (it goes either too fast or too slow);
• muscle tension (jaws and fists clench spontaneously, tension occurs in the neck);
• periodic pain in the head, neck and shoulder girdle, in the stomach, nausea, heartburn.

None of us can completely protect ourselves from stress - after all, it is a natural part of our lives. But it is quite possible to reduce the risk that stress will turn into distress.

To reduce your risk:

If these methods fail to cope with stress and their negative impact on health, dietary supplements that increase a person’s resistance to environmental factors will come to your aid.

To the doctor!

You should consult your doctor if:

• against the background of nervous tension, you experience severe pain in the heart or sharp pain in the abdomen;
• if, due to stress, you experience insomnia or headaches, especially if they last for several days in a row.

Remember, self-medication is life-threatening; consult a doctor for advice on the use of any medications.