About the data: We used the family income data from the 2013 American Community Survey. This counts only families, which the government defines as households with two or more people related by birth, marriage or adoption. The graph focuses on families living in the country's 30 most populous cities.
Congestive heart failure. When one or both of your heart's lower chambers lose their ability to pump blood effectively â as happens in congestive heart failure â the blood can back up in your legs, ankles and feet, causing edema. Heart failure can also cause swelling in your abdomen. Sometimes it can cause fluid to accumulate in your lungs (pulmonary edema), which can lead to shortness of breath. Cirrhosis. Fluid may accumulate in your abdominal cavity (ascites) and in your legs as a result of liver damage (cirrhosis).
Swelling in one leg is less common than two legs and has a smaller number of possible causes. Edema means swelling of the soft tissues. It tends to occur in the feet, ankles and legs or the back in persons who are lying flat for long periods of time. It also most frequently occurs in both legs. The presence of edema in both legs has a broad number of possible causes. The presence of edema in one ankle narrows the diagnostic possibilities quite a bit. Video of the Day