Pregnancy Complications Could Mean Lifelong Heart Risks for Women

By Cara Murez HealthDay Reporter

Majorpregnancycomplications, such aspreeclampsiaand preterm birth, should be recognized as lifelong risk factors for women'sheart disease, new research suggests.

Women who experience any of the five majorpregnancycomplications have an increased risk of ischemicheart diseaseup to 46 years after delivery, says the study published Feb. 1 in theBMJ.

The five complications are: preterm delivery (less than 37 weeks gestation), small baby for gestational age at birth,preeclampsia(a官网地址bwindisorder), other官网地址bwindisorders ofpregnancy, andgestational diabetes.

“Women with adversepregnancyoutcomes should be considered for early preventive evaluation and long-term risk reduction to help prevent the development of ischemicheart disease,” the study authors said in a journal news release. Dr. Casey Crump, from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City, led the research team.

Nearly one-third of women experience an adverse pregnancy outcome, the authors said in background notes.心disease is the leading cause of death among women worldwide.

For the study, U.S. and Swedish researchers identified more than 2.1 million women in Sweden with no history ofheart disease. Each had given birth to a single live infant between 1973 and 2015 at an average age of 27.

Using medical records, the researchers tracked cases ofheart diseasefrom delivery date through 2018. This was an average follow-up time of 25 years.

They considered the mothers' age, number of children, education, income, body mass index,smokingand history ofhigh blood pressure,diabetesorhigh cholesterol.

心diseasewas diagnosed in more than 83,000 -- or almost 4% -- of women at an average age of 58.

The researchers found that in the 10 years after delivery, relative rates ofheartdisease rose 1.7-fold in those with a history of preterm delivery and 1.5-fold in women withpreeclampsia. Moreover, they rose twofold in women with otherhigh blood pressuredisorders of pregnancy. In addition, risk of heart disease rose 1.3-fold in those withgestational diabetesand 1.1-fold in those who delivered a small-for-gestational-age infant.

Women who had experienced several adverse pregnancy outcomes showed further increases in risk.

These risks remained significantly elevated 30 to 46 years after delivery. They were only partially explained by shared genetic or environmental factors within families, the researchers noted.

The study can't prove a direct cause and effect relationship, however.

更多的信息

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control andPreventionhas more on women and heart disease.

SOURCE:BMJ, news release, Feb. 1, 2023

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