Edema is also called oedema. It is caused by excessive body fluid in the skin and subcutis. It is easy to distinguish the degree of edema by measuring the body weight periodically. Generally speaking, when body weight is 5% above the standard, edema occurs on face and slightly on crura. Edema is apparently on face and at extremities, showing pitting edema by pressing with finger at the front part of the shin bone and then release. If it is then sunken, it is called pitting edema.
Edema is perceptible if body weight is 10% over the standard. If edema occurs on the whole body, it is supervened with thorax hydropsy, ascites and scrotum (labia majora for female) hydropsy, body weight is at least 10-15% over the standard. So disease-related fattiness and body fluid accumulation can also affect body figure and increase weight. It is incorrect to lose weight before finding the reasons behind.
What are the reasons for edema ?
There are many clues that can cause edema, such as super nutrition, incretion error, water-electrolyte equilibrium turbulence, drug hypersensitivity or toxicosis. Cardiac edema, nephrotic edema and hepatic edema are also often seen.
Cardiac edema often goes with a heart disease history. Edema occurs first on crura and then spreads to the whole body. Because cardiac edema is mostly found among chronic heart failure and severe incompletion of heart function, patients often have clinical symptoms such as palpitation, short breath. It should not be neglected.
Renal edema can be easily seen which occurs at the eyelids, face and then develops downwards to the whole body. As renal edema occurs more acute and accompanied with high blood pressure and with obvious chronic and acute inflammation of the renal and supported with changes by urine test, it is not easy to diagnose incorrectly.
Hepatic edema is more common. Mostly because the complex of antigen and antibody condenses as time passes by and that body fluid deposits in tissues interspaced. Patients with liver diseases may get hepatic edema because chronic hepatitis develops slowly, and there are no specific symptoms and may easily be neglected or even diagnosed as obesity. Viral hepatitis can cause alimentation handicap, which subsequently results in anemia, hypoproteinemia or endocinours disorder. Viral hepatitis can even cause avitaminosis (i.e. lack of vitamin B1, a person gets dermatophytosis). These are many reasons for hepatic edema and we emphasize on the difference between hepatic edema and simple obesity as well as the causes for hepatic edema. We hope that anyone who wants to reduce weight has to think carefully whether or not he has liver disease. It is unwise to make up their minds hastily to reduce weight.
Many people who think themselves obese may have hepatic edema. We have recorded 2000 cases of hepatophilic viral disease and found that among the 2000 patients with abnormity at hepatic dullness area, 539 cases are hepatic edema, which accounted for 26.95%. Based on this data, we believed that hepatic edema is commonly found in hepatitis patients. One should not regard hepatic edema as simple obesity nor should reduce body weight without serious thought.