"Men are afraid of wearing boots, women are afraid of wearing hats" Who can explain

When I was in my teens, I went to visit relatives with my grandmother. I was deeply impressed by an old man lying on the bed in my relative's house: his lower limbs were swollen like elephant legs and somewhat shiny. Because I was very curious, I asked my grandma what was going on on the way back. My grandma explained, "Men are afraid of wearing boots and women are afraid of wearing hats. I guess that relative will leave us soon." At that time, I only had a vague concept. The relative was dying, and I forgot to ask what "Men are afraid of wearing boots and women are afraid of wearing hats" meant.

In fact, "Men are afraid of wearing boots and women are afraid of wearing hats" is a folk saying. So, how should it be explained? Is this statement scientific?

"Men are afraid of wearing boots, and women are afraid of wearing hats" - referring to edema

This is a very vivid metaphor, which means that if men's edema starts from the lower limbs and women's edema starts from the head and face, it is a bad omen. The disease will develop in a bad direction and is more dangerous.

The disease is serious - it makes sense from the perspective of modern medicine. Edema is related to the osmotic pressure in the body. Many diseases can induce edema, such as problems with the kidneys, liver, heart, and malnutrition. These diseases are relatively serious and difficult to cure. It is completely correct to say that the disease is serious.

"Men and women are different" - unscientific. From a scientific point of view, no matter what kind of situation induces edema, there will be no difference in symptoms due to gender differences. The reason why such a folk proverb has been passed down may be related to the conservative traditions of ancient times. For example, women in ancient times could usually only show their faces, while men would often show their calves, which made it easier to observe. Therefore, edema of the head and face in men, or edema of the lower limbs in women should also be taken seriously.

But from a physiological function point of view, the female urethra is very short (generally 2.5~5cm), has no bends, is easy to expand, and is very close to the anus and vagina, making it extremely easy to be contaminated. Therefore, it can be said that women are more afraid of "wearing a hat" than men.

Special note: Edema is just a symptom, it is not as easy to diagnose as a cold. Although this proverb can increase people's awareness of the disease, if you want to judge the severity of the disease, you still need to ask a specialist to make a judgment.

When the whole body is swollen, accompanied by difficulty breathing, wheezing, and inability to urinate, this is a very serious condition and may even be life-threatening. If the patient is not in the hospital at this time, he or she should be sent to the hospital immediately.

How does edema occur?

The state of excessive water retention in the interstitial space is edema. Under normal circumstances, the body's tissue fluid is in a state of balance, and it is the capillaries in the body that adjust its balance. Because at the end of the arterial capillaries, the capillary pressure is higher than the osmotic pressure of its surroundings, body fluids can seep out of the blood vessels into the surrounding environment to form tissue fluid. On the contrary, at the end of the meridian capillaries, the pressure of the capillaries is lower than the osmotic pressure of the surrounding areas, so the body fluid flows back into the meridian capillaries. This inflow and outflow maintains the body's fluid balance. However, when this balance is disturbed, whether more water comes out from the arterial end or less or more comes in from the venous end, it can cause excessive water retention, which is edema.

5 types of edema, each with different symptoms

5 types of diseases that can easily cause edema

Edema is actually not uncommon in our daily life. Some of it may be related to physiological factors. For example, if you drink more water before going to bed at night, you will find edema on your eyelids when you wake up the next day. However, this edema has little effect on your health and will subside quickly. However, some edema is not like this. Not only is the edema more severe and lasts longer, it is sometimes accompanied by other symptoms. In this case, you need to seek medical attention in time to confirm the cause.

Category 1: Edema caused by kidney disease. Edema first occurs in areas where tissues are more relaxed, such as the eyelids and face, and is more obvious in the morning. Edema then occurs in the feet, ankles, and lower limbs. When the problem is serious, it often affects the whole body. Press the edematous area with your thumb, stay for a while and then lift it up, and you can see a depression in the pressed area. Edema is also accompanied by symptoms such as oliguria, nocturia, polyuria, and high blood pressure. This type of edema is common in diseases such as acute and chronic nephritis, pyelonephritis or kidney disease.

Category 2: Edema caused by heart disease Edema first appears in the ankles and then gradually spreads throughout the body. This is because when various heart problems induce right heart failure, the venous blood returning to the heart is blocked and cannot flow smoothly into the left ventricle, causing the pressure in the veins to increase, causing body fluid at the end of the venous capillaries to flow into the tissue gap, inducing edema. Edema is common in patients with congestive heart failure, acute or chronic pericarditis, etc.

Category 3: Edema caused by liver disease. Edema also starts from the ankles and then gradually spreads upward, but rarely affects the upper limbs and head and face. The most obvious manifestation is ascites. This is mainly because when liver disease becomes severe enough to reach the stage of cirrhosis, the structure of the liver is destroyed, causing obstruction of venous return. Edema is common in patients with viral hepatitis and cirrhosis.

Category 4: Malnutrition edema Edema first appears in the lower limbs, then gradually spreads upward, and eventually spreads throughout the body. However, before edema occurs, malnutrition, malabsorption or chronic wasting disease already exists. This is because plasma albumin decreases when malnutrition occurs. Edema is common in diseases such as hypoproteinemia and vitamin B1 deficiency.

Category 5: Local edema of the lower limbs. Generally, edema is only seen on one side of the lower limb and usually does not spread to the whole body. It is mostly caused by obstruction of the veins and lymphatic vessels in the lower limbs, resulting in body fluids entering the tissue spaces. It is common in diseases such as thrombophlebitis of the lower limbs, lymphangitis, tumor compression of the pelvis or lower limbs, and filariasis.

In addition, edema can also be seen in patients with endocrine diseases, anemia, pregnancy, erysipelas, cellulitis, contact dermatitis, etc. Since there are many causes of edema, the key is to understand the cause as soon as possible after discovering edema. In addition to judging based on symptoms, some routine tests are also required to diagnose the cause, such as urine routine, liver and kidney function, electrocardiogram, endocrine T3, T4 tests, etc.

In the treatment of edema, different drug combinations need to be selected for treatment according to different diseases and different causes. Because most of the drugs used are prescription drugs, after edema occurs, you must not use drugs without authorization to avoid delaying the disease and causing danger.