Question: What are the symptoms of HELLP syndrome ?
Answer: What are the signs and symptoms of HELLP syndrome? Women with HELLP syndrome may feel tired, have pain in the upper right part of the belly, have bad headaches, and nausea or vomiting. They may also experience swelling, especially of the face and hands. Vision problems may also be observed. Rarely, they may have bleeding from the gums or other places. Because healthy pregnant women may also have these symptoms late in pregnancy, it may be hard to know for sure if they are attributable to HELLP syndrome. A doctor may order blood tests to determine if these symptoms are the result of HELLP syndrome. The Human Phenotype Ontology provides the following list of signs and symptoms for HELLP syndrome. If the information is available, the table below includes how often the symptom is seen in people with this condition. You can use the MedlinePlus Medical Dictionary to look up the definitions for these medical terms. Signs and Symptoms Approximate number of patients (when available) Autosomal dominant inheritance - Eclampsia - Edema - Elevated hepatic transaminases - Hypertension - Intrauterine growth retardation - Maternal hypertension - Preeclampsia - Proteinuria - Seizures - Thrombocytopenia - The Human Phenotype Ontology (HPO) has collected information on how often a sign or symptom occurs in a condition. Much of this information comes from Orphanet, a European rare disease database. The frequency of a sign or symptom is usually listed as a rough estimate of the percentage of patients who have that feature. The frequency may also be listed as a fraction. The first number of the fraction is how many people had the symptom, and the second number is the total number of people who were examined in one study. For example, a frequency of 25/25 means that in a study of 25 people all patients were found to have that symptom. Because these frequencies are based on a specific study, the fractions may be different if another group of patients are examined. Sometimes, no information on frequency is available. In these cases, the sign or symptom may be rare or common.
Source: GARD

Question: What causes HELLP syndrome ?
Answer: What causes HELLP syndrome? Doctors are still unclear on what exactly causes HELLP syndrome. Although it is more common in women who have preeclampsia or pregnancy induced hypertension (high blood pressure), there are still a number of women who get it without previously showing signs of preeclampsia. The following risk factors may increase a woman's risk of developing HELLP syndrome: Previous pregnancy with HELLP Syndrome (19-27% chance of recurrence in each pregnancy) Preeclampsia or pregnancy induced hypertension Women over the age of 25 Being caucasian Multiparous (given birth two or more times)
Source: GARD