Hypertension During Pregnancy Increases Heart Disease Risk

Highlights:

Hypertensive disorders of pregnancy (HDP) can put women to a higher risk of heart disease later
Women with HDP have a 63% higher chance of getting a heart disease than women who have normal blood pressure during pregnancy

Hypertensive disorders of pregnancy (HDP), such as gestational hypertension or preeclampsia, can increase the risk of developing cardiac events later in life.//

Although these conditions are recognized as risk factors by the American Heart Association and American College of Cardiology, the extent of the relationship and how to intervene to reduce risk has remained unclear.

Link between Hypertensive Pregnancy and Heart Disease

To investigate the relationship between a hypertensive pregnancy and the onset of CVD, researchers at the Brigham followed 60,739 mothers for incident CVD after their first birth using data from the Nurses’ Health Study II.

High Blood Pressure During Pregnancy Predisposes Children to Heart Disease and Stroke Risk
High blood pressure levels in pregnant moms can increase the likelihood of their children developing heart disease and stroke in the future, according to a new research.

‘Early screening of women with a history of gestational hypertension or preeclampsia can help doctors provide early treatment and prevent heart disease later.’

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In doing so, they discovered that

women with HDP had a 63 percent higher rate of CVD events

compared to women who had normal blood pressure during pregnancy.

The increased risk of CVD was not explained by shared risk factors, including pre-pregnancy body mass index, smoking, and parental history of CVD.

The researchers also found that the majority of the increased risk (64 percent) was jointly accounted for by the subsequent development of chronic hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, type 2 diabetes, and/or weight gain after the first birth.

Hypertension During Pregnancy May Be Detrimental to Mother and Baby
Women who develop high blood pressure during pregnancy are at a two-fold risk of heart failure post-delivery. There is a need to create awareness on preventive measures during and after pregnancy.

These established CVD risk factors accounted for an even higher proportion of the CVD risk among women with gestational hypertension (84 percent) than among those with preeclampsia (57 percent).

Researchers also found that the

overall relationship between HDP and CVD appeared to be driven by underlying relationships between preeclampsia and coronary heart disease, and between gestational hypertension and stroke.

Hypertension During Pregnancy can Raise Future Heart Disease Risk
High blood pressure in women during pregnancy may increase the risk of cardiovascular disorders (heart disease) later in life, finds a new study.

“Women with a history of gestational hypertension or preeclampsia should be informed that they are at increased risk for cardiovascular disease events. Screening and prevention efforts in those with a history of gestational hypertension or preeclampsia should target the established cardiovascular disease risk factors of chronic hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, type 2 diabetes mellitus, and overweight/obesity,” said study author Jennifer J. Stuart, ScD, of the Division of Women’s Health.

“We are eager to continue investigating strategies to reduce long-term cardiovascular risk following hypertensive pregnancy and to empower and equip these patients to improve their cardiovascular health in the years and decades after delivery.”

Hypertension During Pregnancy can Put Mother at Risk of Heart Disease Later
Women with gestational hypertension are at higher risk of developing cardiovascular disease later in life. Therefore, it is necessary to make certain heart-healthy modifications such as exercising, eating healthy, quitting smoking, and controlling weight to reduce the risk.

Source-Eurekalert