What is preeclampsia?

Preeclampsia was mentioned during a talk I sat in on today. I had heard the term before, but either never knew or forgot what it meant. I just looked it up. According to Wikipedia,

Pre-eclampsia (previously called toxemia) is a hypertensive disorder of pregnancy. It is said to exist when a pregnant woman with gestational hypertension develops proteinuria. Originally, edema was considered part of the syndrome of pre-eclampsia, but presently the former two symptoms are sufficient for a diagnosis of pre-eclampsia.

And in case you’re wondering about proteinurea,

Proteinuria (from protein and urine) means the presence of an excess of serum proteins in the urine.

Edema basically means your tissue is full of (extra) water, and I trust the drug companies have made you aware of the meaning of hypertension.