High blood pressure during pregnancy is associated with a risk of later heart disease

More evidence suggests pregnancy Is a type of stress test for the heart that reveals a woman’s existing predisposition to a heart attack or stroke in the first few years of life.

Women who develop high blood pressure during pregnancy have a 63% increased risk of developing cardiovascular disease later in life, researchers said this month. Journal of American College of Cardiology..

“This is a risk that occurs over the years and lasts decades after childbirth,” said Jennifer Stuart, lead author of the study and quasi-epidemiologist in the Women’s Health Division at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston. Said today.

“I’m trying to empower women and find ways to use them to reduce their risk. Unfortunately, once you get it, as you have a family history of cardiovascular disease. , It cannot be removed. “

“Failed” stress test

The risk appeared about 10 years after the first childbirth. Pre-eclampsia — High blood pressure during pregnancy and protein in the urine, studies have found. These patients were more likely to develop coronary events such as heart attacks than women who showed normal blood pressure during pregnancy.

For the woman who had Preeclampsia — A spike in blood pressure during pregnancy, but no kidney problems — the risk appeared 30 years after the first childbirth. These patients stroke..

It is not entirely known if the higher risk is due to some kind of damage that occurs during that complication during pregnancy, but most researchers simply reveal the health problems it already has. I believe I’m doing it, Stuart said. “In essence,’failed’ stress tests have some of these complications,” she added.

The risk persisted even if researchers adjusted for risk factors such as a family history of heart disease and BMI that fell into the overweight and obesity categories before pregnancy, Stuart said.

Four factors make up the majority of the risk

The findings are based on data from more than 60,000 women in Nurses’ Health Study II, who have been followed up for almost 30 years. Researchers analyzed pregnancy history, cardiovascular health history, BMI and other health records.

About 10% of participants had preeclampsia and pre-eclampsia during their first pregnancy.

Researchers have found that 64% of the increased cardiovascular risk associated with these conditions in later years can be explained by “four simple things that know how to measure and target.” Chronic hypertension After childbirth, high cholesterol, diabetes, weight gain.

“This study emphasizes how important it is for women and their healthcare providers to address risk factors for known cardiovascular diseases such as obesity and high blood pressure, while thinking during and after pregnancy, including in the family. “We are,” said Victoria Pemberton. In her statement, she is a researcher at the National Institute of Cardiopulmonary Blood. NHLBI funded the research.

Doctors should ask women about their history of pregnancy complications such as preeclampsia and preeclampsia, and patients who experience these complications should be informed that they are at increased risk of heart disease.

She was worried that this information would often be “stuck or siled” at obstetricians. It is an office and will not be transferred to a female primary care provider.

“This subgroup of women … may be under the supervision of a preventative cardiologist, internist, or family practitioner,” the doctor wrote. Ancillary editorial comments for research.. For women with pregnancy complications known as the “fourth trimester,” they added that long-term follow-up beyond 12 weeks after childbirth is required.

It is also important for women to develop healthy habits such as regular exercise and exercise. A good diet for the heartEarly in life — Stuart said before developing these risk factors.

“(We) want women to feel the power to use this information to improve their health, rather than being overwhelmed or annoyed by the increased risk after a truly complex pregnancy. “I will.” She said.