Pre-eclampsia campaign mulled

Pre-eclampsia campaign mulled

SOCIAL & LIFESTYLE

Doctors from major hospitals are discussing whether to set up an association to help prevent pregnant women with hypertension from developing pre-eclampsia.

Boonsri Chanrachakul, a maternal foetal medicine specialist at Bumrungrad International Hospital, said the association would provide information on pre-eclampsia to pregnant women and the public.

Pre-eclampsia is a condition where pregnant women develop high blood pressure and high levels of protein in their urine. Left untreated it can develop into life-threatening seizures.

Dr Boonsri said symptoms of pre-eclampsia are similar to hypertension so the association could assign specialist teams to help screen pregnant women.

Women with hypertension are 4.7 times at greater risk of developing pre-eclampsia, he warned.

"Society has no understanding about pre-eclampsia at all. Half of medical-related court cases involve patients who died or suffer from the disease," he said.

Dr Boonsri said 800,000 Thai women give birth each year. About 3-5% of them suffer from pre-eclampsia.

The disease can cause dangerous complications or the death of the mother and the child, he said.

The disease can be diagnosed after 32 weeks of pregnancy, he said.

A biomarker test of certain types of protein could be applied as early as 20 weeks into pregnancy to plan ahead for suitable clinical management.

However, many patients do not receive a pre-eclampsia test until just before giving birth which puts both mothers and babies in danger, he said. "There is no effective prevention. The cause of the disease is still unknown," he added. As a result physicians are often blamed when something goes wrong.

"Hopefully, the establishment of an association will reduce both the risk of pre-eclampsia, and also cut the number of court cases against doctors."

Dr Boonsri said pre-eclampsia was prevalent in pregnant women from poor families, leading doctors to believe poor diet is a major cause of the disease.

A pre-eclampsia test costs 6,200 baht, and is offered only in some advanced hospitals such as Siriraj and Ramathibodi.

Several specialists from university hospitals are conducting research with the National Health Security Office on pre-eclampsia patients. The research could lead to a more affordable pre-eclampsia test, Dr Boonsri said.

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