What is the difference between swelling and edema?

“Edema” is the medical term for swelling. Body parts swell from injury or inflammation. It can affect a small area or the entire body.

Does edema mean swelling?

Edema is swelling caused by excess fluid trapped in your body’s tissues. Although edema can affect any part of your body, you may notice it more in your hands, arms, feet, ankles and legs.

What is gravitational edema?

Dependent edema is a term that doctors use to describe gravity-related swelling in the lower body. Gravity has the effect of pulling fluid down toward the earth, causing it too pool in the lowest parts of your body, such as your feet, legs, or hands.

What is peripheral edema?

Peripheral edema is swelling of your lower legs or hands. The cause may be simple, such as sitting for too long on a plane or standing for too long. Or it may involve a more serious underlying disease. Edema occurs when something disrupts the usual balance of fluids in your cells.

What is swelling of the legs called?

Leg swelling caused by the retention of fluid in leg tissues is known as peripheral edema. It can be caused by a problem with the venous circulation system, the lymphatic system or the kidneys.

What is the cause of generalized edema?

Generalized edema is often a feature of heart failure, when the hydrostatic pressure in the blood vessels rises. In conditions such as nephrotic syndrome and liver failure, the oncotic pressure often falls. These underlying conditions can cause a generalized edema that affects peripheral tissues and several organs.

What causes swelling feet?

Sometimes swelling can indicate a problem such as heart, liver, or kidney disease. Ankles that swell in the evening could be a sign of retaining salt and water because of right-sided heart failure. Kidney disease can also cause foot and ankle swelling.

What cause peripheral edema?

The most common cause of peripheral edema in patients over 50 yrs of age is venous insufficiency and related to aging, but many other underlying comorbid conditions like heart failure, renal failure, liver failure, and trauma can affect any age group. Peripheral edema can also be commonly observed in pregnancy.

What causes swelling and edema in the body?

Edema occurs when tiny blood vessels in your body (capillaries) leak fluid. The fluid builds up in surrounding tissues, leading to swelling. Mild cases of edema may result from: Sitting or staying in one position for too long. Eating too much salty food. Having premenstrual signs and symptoms.

What happens if you drink water with microcystin in it?

Residents were told not to drink, or even boil, the water tainted with microcystin, which can cause nausea and impair liver function. — Lauren Raab When cyanobacteria die, they release microcystin, and scientists have found that remaining cyanobacteria respond to the molecule by making more of their own.

How does cytotoxic edema cause brain swelling?

Abstract. Cytotoxic edema by itself does not result in brain swelling, but formation of cytotoxic edema depletes the extracellular space of Na +, Cl −, and water, thereby creating a new gradient for these molecules across the capillary of the blood–brain barrier. With appropriate changes in capillary permeability,…

Which is the best description of cytotoxic edema?

Abstract. Cytotoxic edema is defined as the premorbid cellular process, otherwise known as cellular edema, oncotic cell swelling, or oncosis, whereby extracellular Na + and other cations enter into neurons and astrocytes and accumulate intracellularly, in part due to failure of energy-dependent mechanisms of extrusion.