# What is toxemia and why does this happen?



## captain optimism (Jan 2, 2003)

This past week my supervisor at my new job, a woman whom I have already come to love and respect, went to the hospital for emergency treatment for toxemia. She was in the intensive care unit all week. First they injected her with steroids to artificially mature the baby's lungs and then, after 36 hours, they did a c-section. She was past the 7 month mark and her baby is apparently healthy though quite premature and in NICU. The hospital is breastfeeding friendly and they are going to help her pump for the little guy. Currently he's getting nutrition through an IV, as indeed she was for a few days herself.

She was, and still is, very ill. The c-section was difficult because her veins had collapsed and it was hard to give her appropriate anaesthesia. She was unconscious several times.

Please, tell me more about toxemia. How does this happen? What is the relationship between toxemia and diet? My colleague had borderline gestational diabetes and saw a nutritionist, and seemed to be eating a high-protein diet, which I thought was protective.

Okay to send me links or quote from books--I have given all my pregnancy and birth books to pregnant friends and so have no way to look this up at home.


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## bobica (May 31, 2004)

toxemia is now called pre-eclampsia. it's not related to blood sugar, as far as i know, only blood pressure. i was being watched very closely for it during my pg after my blood pressure spiked at 28 weeks. i was put on bedrest & had to go for ob visits 2x a week until i was induced full-term.
my friend was 24 weeks pg & out of nowhere had a huge spike in pressure & had a seizure. very scary stuff. she's not having any more babies as a result- the likelihood of recurrence was too much for her.

i hope your friend is ok! i'm sure other mamas here have much more helpful info- but i wanted to give you something- it can be hard to wait for a response!


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## thepeach80 (Mar 16, 2004)

Pre-E includes very high bp and protein spiiling into your urine (one reason you have to pee in a cup each time) and can cause kidney shutdown. Studies have shown that moms that eat a high protein diet are less likely to get pre-e. The chance of it happening in a future pgcy is less though unless she has babies w/ a different man next time. Most people only get it the first time I believe, but some do have it each time. Most DRs watch for it and are very proactice in trying to prevent it from becoming full blown eclampsia (moms can die from this).


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## 2+twins (Apr 20, 2004)

I'm currently training to become a Bradley childbirth instructor and at the teacher training they discussed this issue (and I took lots of notes, but forgive me for not remember *exactly* how this works). So this is what I got from them (the best that I can remember it anyhow)...

There is something known as capillary exchange (or Starling's Law of capillary exchange). If I remember correctly, it is the process by which albumin travels down to the capillaries, squeezes down as small as they can (but cannot fit all the way to the tiniest parts), then absorbs the waste that has collected there like a sponge. They then carry that waste back through the bloodstream and out for disposal (to the kidneys, I think???).

The albumin is generated by protein (or at least has some dependancy on protein for it's size) and if there is not enough protein in the body then the albumin that *is* created isn't as large as it should be. Therefore, it still travels down to the capillaries and absorbs the waste/toxins like a sponge, but because they're smaller than normal they cannot absorb ALL the waste that they should and leave what cannot be absorbed behind. The waste that is left behind results in swelling/edema which leads to pre-e/toxemia.

This is why eating 80 to 100 grams of protein per day is so important during pregnancy (to prevent toxemia). The Brewer diet advocates high protein intake for this reason.

Hope this helps (and makes some sense!)


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## captain optimism (Jan 2, 2003)

As far as I understand, this was eclampsia or toxemia, not pre-eclampsia. That is, my friend was experiencing the edema, high blood pressure and she had a lot of waste in her bloodstream that the medical team tried to purge with magnesium. She was very ill, in the ICU. It was sudden.

It looks like the treatments were successful and like my friend and her baby will be okay, please God.

I did know about the Brewer Diet. That was why I was so freaked out that this was still happening to people. I read an article in the New York Times Magazine last year about toxemia in which the journalist, who had suffered toxemia and lost a baby, said that there was no medical research that conclusively showed what caused it. Yet here is Dr. Brewer making a pretty compelling case that women need to eat high protein diets with unrestricted salt. I don't know if the nutritionist she saw told her to limit salt, but she certainly didn't tell her to limit protein.

Well, I appreciate what you are able to tell me and I want to read more. It is very unlikely that my friend, a lesbian in her late 30's who had a lot of trouble conceiving this child, will have another baby.


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## crazy_eights (Nov 22, 2001)

Eclampsia is the end-stage disease when a mom actually seizes. Magnesium doesn't 'purge waste' from the bloodstream or elsewhere, it prevents seizures. Toxemia is an outdated term for what we now call 'pre-eclampsia', a collection of symptoms rather than a true disease state. It is now assumed that there are most likely multiple causes of 'pre-eclampsia/eclampsia', but it is poorly understood. Women with diabetes and women with certain genetic clotting disorders (MTHFR being one) have a much greater chance of developing the syndrome and these women are at greater risk for developing it in a second pregnancy. The fact that first time moms are at greatest risk (or moms having a baby with a new partner) and it rarely reoccurs lends credence to the theory that there is an auto-immune component to the disease.

Editted to add: The Brewer diet does seem to provide some protective benefits, but I suspect that it is from the healthy variety of foods and not the protein. MTHFR, for example, is treated with folic acid supplementation. And if you ask around with older midwives, they can all tell you about clients they have seen on the Brewer diet that developed severe pre-eclampsia despite it.


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## captain optimism (Jan 2, 2003)

Thanks for the clarification about the magnesium and the terminology, I've been going by what the other people in our office who visited our colleague said.

This woman had borderline gestational diabetes, which I understand is an indcator for type 2. Okay baby climbing on wheeled object! gotta go


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## mezzaluna (Jun 8, 2004)

there was just an article today on the BBC website about a genetic basis for pre-e...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/3733466.stm

there can be a problem with the blood supply into the placenta... since i had pre-existing high BP problems and was a little high in the 1st trimester (and my mom had it with me), i worked with a high-risk OB who had me take vit. e, c, and calcium, as well as a baby aspirin a day in the 1st trimester only to help establish blood supply into the placenta. everything has been looking great though, and my BP has been totally normal in the 2nd and 3rd trimesters (i'm at 33w now). i'm eating a pretty healthy diet - trying for the brewer standards but not getting there consistently... but still eating lots of fruit, vegetables, whole grains, nuts, low-fat dairy... and i exercise regularly...

perhaps it's one of those things that you have a genetic pre-disposition to, and you can influence it to some extent with your lifestyle choices, but there will probably always be some who are unlucky enough to get it anyway, no matter what they try to prevent it!


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## gossamer (Feb 28, 2002)

Here is a thread I started that highlights risk factors, symptoms and myths about pre-eclampsia and eclampsia. I hope you find the information valuable.

http://www.mothering.com/discussions...ight=eclampsia

Gossamer


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