What is edema?

EDEMA OR OEDEMA

The most common thing that we think of when we think of edema is swelling or the accumulation of water in any body part.

Well that is partially correct but what leads to the retention of excess fluid in the body?

Where is this water retention happens?

What are the basic factors that play a role during edema?

What is the basic management or preventive measures that we can take for it?

Well that are the basic questions about which we will know in this article.

First thing that we need for edema is fluid and the fluid that is present in our body mostly comes from water. As we know that our body is composed of 60% water.

Emphasizing the term 60% is that if you weigh 75kgs then the amount of water in your body will be 60% of 75 kg which is 42 liters. Now, 42 liters of water are distributed all over the body.

Now, the body water can be divided into 2 major groups extracellular(outside the cells) and intracellular(inside the cells) in which intracellular is 2/3 and extracellular is 1/3.

What happens in edema is the water from the inside of the cells comes out and gets collected in the tissues or the extracellular space.

Sometimes, extravascular fluid can also collect in body cavities and such accumulations are often referred to collectively as effusions. Examples include effusions in the pleural cavity (hydrothorax), the pericardial cavity (hydropericardium), or the peritoneal cavity (hydroperitoneum, or ascites).

It is to note that the hydro above stands for water and basically there is water in the body cavities.

Take an example of the balloon, when filled with an excess of water creates pressure and it bursts. The cavities like the pleura when having more fluid have increased pressure and can undergo damage. If the alveoli of our lungs the place where the oxygen exchange takes place gets filled with fluid can cause what we call ARDS (acute respiratory distress syndrome).

This is a brief introduction to edema and more on the causes and management in the next article.

Thankyou stay safe and healthy

P.S comment what you think about the information😊

 

 

 

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