Preeclampsia in pregnancy may increase heart attack risk

The research involved 1,157,666 pregnant women in Denmark between 1978 and 2017.

Women were grouped into those with and without preeclampsia. All participants were free of cardiovascular disease prior to pregnancy. The women were followed up to 39 years postpartum.

“This allowed us to assess exactly when cardiovascular disease occurs in women with and without preeclampsia, and to estimate risk in different age groups and at different lengths of follow-up,” Hallum said.

Overall, the Danish researchers found that women with preeclampsia were four times more likely to have a heart attack and three times more likely to have a stroke within 10 years of giving birth than their peers without. preeclampsia.

Even 20 years later, the risk of stroke or heart attack was twice as high in the group with preeclampsia.

Researchers also reported that women aged 30 to 39 who had preeclampsia had a five times higher risk of heart attack and a three times higher risk of stroke than their age-matched peers without a history of preeclampsia. .

Women over the age of 50 with a history of preeclampsia still had double the risk of heart attack or stroke compared to their peers without such a history.

Dr Brittney Johnsonan OB/GYN with Keck Medicine of USC, says the study results are important.

“This is a clinically significant finding given the primary cause death for all women of all ethnicities and ages is heart disease… This basically means that these women have an increased risk of death from a disease that was ‘resolved’ years before,” Johnson said. at Healthline.

In the United States, preeclampsia occurs in approximately 1 in 25 pregnancies. This happens when women who previously had normal blood pressure develop sudden high blood pressure. A pregnant woman may also have protein in her urine and other health problems after 20 weeks of pregnancy.

People most at risk for preeclampsia include women:

• Giving birth for the first time.
• Have chronic high blood pressure or chronic kidney disease.
• Pregnant with twins or other multiples.
• Have type 1 or type 2 diabetes.
• With obesity.
• Over 40 years old.

Symptoms of preeclampsia can sometimes be confused with regular pregnancy symptoms such as nausea and vomiting.

Other symptoms include changes in vision, sudden weight gain, and difficulty breathing.

“We mostly diagnose (preeclampsia) during routine antenatal care and the first change is often blood pressure. But there are other things the patient may see… pain in the right upper quadrant, severe headaches and visual changes. Edema, rapid increase in edema, ” Dr. G. Thomas Ruizthe OB/GYN manager at MemorialCare Orange Coast Medical Center in California told Healthline.

While many factors can contribute to the development of preeclampsia, there are steps women can take to reduce their risk.

“Optimize pre-pregnancy health, incorporate healthy lifestyle interventions like eating balanced meals and performing regular aerobic exercise, and stopping or decreasing toxic exposures like cigarette smoking,” Johnson said.

“Establish prenatal care early, ask your provider if you would benefit from low dose aspirin during pregnancy to decrease your risk of developing preeclampsia. Women with high risk factors should monitor their blood pressure at home. Be aware of the preeclampsia symptoms to watch out for. Know how to contact your supplier or instructions on what to do if you have urgent questions or concerns,” she added.

Experts who spoke to Healthline say the best thing women can do to protect their cardiovascular health during and after pregnancy is to meet with a healthcare professional regularly.

“You can’t always control whether or not you have preeclampsia during pregnancy. But in terms of our management, the most important thing that we do…is basically prenatal care. Make sure you are early for prenatal care and that you have regular prenatal care visits,” Ruiz said.

According to experts, it is also important to have annual preventive care visits.

“Stand up for yourself, if your concerns aren’t addressed you can get a second opinion,” Johnson said.