VOA常速英语:孕期子痫前期 早检验早应对

When Jessi Prizinsky was pregnant with her first child, her feet got swollen. Well, you hear everybody tells you, you know, the swollen ankles and you know, get your feet up and all that. And so that was kind of where I just thought okay, and then it started to be kind of looks like it’s in my arms and my hands, too. Swelling can also be a sign of preeclampsia. Preeclampsia is a complication of pregnancy. It puts the health of both the mother and the baby at risk. It raises the mother’s blood pressure and affects the blood flow to the placenta. This can lead to smaller or premature babies. Untreated, it can be fatal to mom or the baby. One of the hard parts with preeclampsia is there’s a lot of symptoms of just pregnancy alone.

And other medical conditions that have similar symptoms that the women experience like high blood pressure, headaches, changes in vision. Those can be contribute to a lot of other things. Researchers at the Ohio State Wexner Medical Center have developed a fast and easy test to diagnose preeclampsia. It is so easy to use. It’s non-invasive and it’s very, takes very little resources to actually conduct the test. Preeclampsia is more serious if it occurs earlier in the pregnancy or in a woman who had high blood pressure before getting pregnant. It’s best for both mothers and babies to manage this condition as soon as it’s diagnosed. Without the certainty of this test aiding in the diagnosis, we as providers are definitely over cautious as this is definitely something we don’t want to miss because of the life-threatening result of a misdiagnosis for moms and baby.
Because of her preeclampsia, Prizinsky was induced three weeks early. She had a successful second pregnancy and has this advice for other women. The biggest thing is listening to your body.
The test is so easy. Women can take it at home. That way, preeclampsia can be treated as soon as it develops. The researchers expect the tests to be approved by the Food and Drug Administration in the next few years.
Carol Pearson VOA News.