Symptoms and Causes of Water Retention

Edema is the medical term for water retention within the tissues of the whole body or in certain areas or organs, which in turn causes swelling. Accordingly, edema or fluid retention can be classified into two main categories, generalized edema, which causes swelling throughout the body and localized edema that causes swelling in some specific areas of the body. Generally, excess fluid from the body tissues are carried by the lymphatic system to the bloodstream and then eliminated by the kidneys. But in case of edema, this fluid accumulates within the tissues, under the influence of several factors and disorders. Its causes can be hormone-related, drug related or even lifestyle related.

Causes of Edema

One of the most common causes is the intake of too much salt or sodium. Sodium is known to increase the water retention ability of the kidneys and thereby causing accumulation of water or fluid within the tissues. Even high temperature can affect the body's ability to remove fluid. Low level of albumin in the blood and a deficiency of vitamin B1, B5 and B6 are some other causes of this condition.

Many women experience this one or two weeks before menstruation due to a drop in the level of progesterone and a rise in the estrogen level. Estrogen in turn increases the secretion of aldosterone, which stimulates the kidneys to retain more water. Women are also likely to suffer from fluid retention during pregnancy, due to hormonal changes. Taking oral contraceptives that contain estrogen, can be another cause of this condition. Sometimes, hormonal changes in menopausal women can induce the retention of excess water.

Certain drugs like hypertension medications, anti-inflammatory medications and steroids are found to produce edema in many instances. However, edema can also be a symptom of some serious underlying problems and diseases. As for example, kidney diseases often result in the inability to excrete sodium and fluid from body. Such kidney diseases can lead to water retention in legs and eyes. This condition can also be caused by the veins of the legs, to return blood to the heart due to some defects in the valves. This causes pooling of blood in the leg veins and a resultant swelling of the ankles and feet.

Heart failure like congestive heart failure, can adversely affect the pumping ability of the heart chambers and the body, in such a situation, tends to retain more fluid. Usually, right heart failure causes accumulation and swelling of legs and abdomen, while left heart failure causes pulmonary edema (accumulation of fluid in the lungs). Liver diseases like cirrhosis can cause fluid accumulation in the abdominal cavity and feet. Some other causes of edema are arthritis and thyroid like hypothyroidism.

Symptoms of Edema

The most common symptoms are swelling of the skin, enlargement of the abdomen, weight gain and fluctuations in body weight. Pulmonary edema is also found to produce breathing difficulties in the patients.

Diagnosis of edema is usually carried out by a proper observation of the symptoms and certain tests like blood tests, urine tests, liver function tests and heart function tests. Treatment for the disease is mainly determined by the underlying causes. However, diuretics are often prescribed by the physicians along with the medications for treating the underlying disorders. In addition to medications, a change in the lifestyle and eating a low salt or sodium diet are also required to prevent any complications of the disease.