Preeclampsia

Overview

Healthcare providers often diagnose preeclampsia during a routine prenatal appointment. Routine prenatal appointments occur at regular intervals during pregnancy. It’s where your healthcare provider checks things like your pregnancy weight gain and blood pressure.

If your provider suspects preeclampsia, they may:

Order additional blood tests to check kidney and liver functions.
Suggest a 24-hour urine collection to watch for proteinuria.
Perform an ultrasound and other fetal monitoring to look at the size of the fetus and assess the amniotic fluid volume.

Preeclampsia can be mild or severe. Mild preeclampsia is when you have high blood pressure plus high levels of protein in your pee.

Severe preeclampsia is when you have signs of mild preeclampsia plus:

Signs of kidney or liver damage (seen in blood work).
Low platelet count
Fluid in your lungs.
Headaches and dizziness.
Visual impairment or seeing spots.

Products & Services

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Symptoms

When to see a doctor

Request an appointment

Complications

Blood clots are a dangerous complication of atrial fibrillation (AFib). Blood clots can lead to stroke.

The risk of stroke from AFib increases as you grow older. Other health conditions also may increase the risk of a stroke due to AFib. These conditions include:

High blood pressure.
Diabetes.
Heart failure.
Some types of heart valve disease.

Blood thinners are commonly prescribed to prevent blood clots and strokes in people with atrial fibrillation.

Prevention

Healthy lifestyle choices can reduce the risk of heart disease and may prevent atrial fibrillation (AFib). Here are some basic heart-healthy tips:

Control high blood pressure, high cholesterol and diabetes.
Don't smoke or use tobacco.
Eat a diet that's low in salt and saturated fat.
Exercise at least 30 minutes a day on most days of the week unless your health care team says not to.
Get good sleep. Adults should aim for 7 to 9 hours daily.
Maintain a healthy weight.
Reduce and manage stress.

By Freedmans Health Clinic Staff

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