Case sharing: 65-year-old Chen Bo has suffered from gout for many years, his toes are often, and recently both feet have developed edema. Chen Bo thought it was another gout attack, but the edema in both feet became more and more serious, so he went to the hospital. After examination, Chen Bo’s blood pressure was as high as 160, resulting in edema of the feet of the culprit is actually hypertension. Professor Liang Donghui, chief physician of the Department of Traditional Chinese Medicine at Zhujiang Hospital of Southern Medical University, said that edema is a symptom of the complications of hypertension, and edema in hypertensive patients is likely to be a “signal” of heart or kidney problems, which should be taken seriously and should be diagnosed by a doctor in time. Oedema is an “alarm” for abnormalities in the heart and kidneys. Oedema in patients with hypertension is generally depressed and is more common in the lower extremities (pressing on the anterior tibial crest). “There are many causes of edema, the most common being cardiac insufficiency or renal insufficiency due to hypertension. Hypertension causes damage to target organs, with the center and kidneys being the primary targets implicated. If hypertension affects the function of the heart, resulting in cardiac insufficiency there will be edema, especially in right heart failure there is often lower limb edema; secondly, if hypertension affects the kidneys, edema is often the first symptom.” In addition to hypertension that damages the heart and kidney function and causes edema, hypertension also causes peripheral vascular lesions, such as deep vein thrombosis in the lower extremities, the clinical manifestation of which is edema in one limb. In addition, there is another kind of edema is caused by antihypertensive drugs, such as calcium antagonists, this kind of pharmacogenic edema is mostly at the ankle, usually after the effect of the drug will naturally subside. Read the “signals” of edema to find out the crisis As most edema is just a symptom, there is no pain, and some edema will subside on its own, therefore, many hypertensive patients do not pay attention to it. In this regard, Prof. Liang Donghui said that if hypertensive patients have edema, it is mostly related to heart and kidney complications, so the cause must be identified, and the cause of edema can be found through urine routine and ultrasound examination of the heart, liver, kidney and lower limb arteries and veins. If it is mild edema, especially foot swelling after sitting or standing for a long time, it is usually caused by poor blood circulation. In such patients, the edema will slowly subside if the feet are elevated in a lying or sitting position to help blood return. ”The water, improve circulation “to help reduce swelling hypertension edema is often a signal of target organ damage, hypertensive people in addition to stable control of blood pressure, you can start from the following aspects to prevent edema trouble. Low-salt diet, no more than 6 grams of salt per day. In particular, pay attention to the “invisible salt” in food, such as salted vegetables, salted eggs, ham, sausage, beef jerky, etc. Low-fat diet. Too greasy diet will aggravate the blood viscosity, so patients with edema should eat a light diet, avoid high-fat foods, and eat less or no animal offal, such as pig liver, kidney, chicken and other foods with high cholesterol. High fiber diet. Vegetables and fruits are rich in water and fiber, they are helpful to eliminate swollen legs, such as you can eat some celery, black fungus (with kidney, anti-platelet aggregation, prevention of blood clots), onions, etc.; you can also eat more fruits containing potassium, such as bananas, watermelon, grapes, grapefruit, etc., to relieve edema. Proper exercise. Moderate exercise is needed when edema subsides and blood pressure is stable. Walking, Tai Chi and jogging are good choices, but strenuous exercise is not suitable. Water-friendly food to help reduce swelling. If it is mild edema, you can eat some water-relieving foods, such as barley, winter melon skin, winter melon, lotus leaf, corn beard; in addition, you can also use some foods that improve circulation, such as black fungus, onion, tomato, corn, hawthorn, etc. Massage the feet. Poor blood circulation can also lead to edema, therefore, patients with hypertension can press acupuncture points on their own everyday, such as foot Sanli, Yinlingquan, Sanyinjiao, Taixi, Fuyao, etc., to promote blood circulation in the lower limbs. If the edema is caused by hypertensive nephropathy, protein intake should be controlled, and high-quality protein should be the mainstay of the daily routine. In addition, if edema is obvious and urine is low, pay attention to controlling the amount of water drunk, and patients with edema should not drink salt water.