A medical condition where fluid accumulates throughout the body tissues, causing widespread swelling; also called dropsy when describing general fluid retention.
From Greek 'ana-' (throughout) + 'sarkos' (flesh). The term was coined in medical Latin and has been used since ancient medical texts to describe systemic fluid accumulation.
Before modern medicine understood how hearts and kidneys work, physicians saw anasarca as a mysterious swelling that spread throughout the body like water finding every low place—it's one of the first signs that a vital organ is seriously failing.
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