Dr. Aylah Clark Lipedema is an adipose tissue (fat tissue) disorder primarily affecting the lower extremities and sometimes arms that spares the hands and feet. It almost exclusively affects women with symptoms beginning often after hormonal change like puberty, menopause, or pregnancy. Lipedema (Wikimedia Commons) There is a lot we don’t know about lipedema. We don’t know exactly why it happens or what sets it off. It is thought to have a genetic component as it is common for people with lipedema to have family members with it (or suspected to have it). It is also thought that estrogen, or