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By Cara Murez HealthDay Reporter
(Health Day)
MONDAY, May 22, 2023 (HealthDay News) — Women who have had certain pregnancy complications have a significantly higher risk of stroke than women with uncomplicated pregnancies, new research shows.
What’s more, these strokes can occur at a relatively early age, according to researchers from the Smidt Heart Institute at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles.
Additionally, compared to women with a single uncomplicated pregnancy, women who experienced complications in two or more pregnancies had twice the risk of stroke by age 45, the authors noted. of the study.
In light of these findings, women and their doctors should discuss a history of pregnancy complications, including gestational high blood pressure, preeclampsia or premature delivery, the researchers said.
“We understand from previous studies in the United States that women have a greater risk of stroke and a disproportionate burden of post-stroke disability than men,” said the study’s co-author. . Dr. Natalie Bellodirector of hypertension research at the Smidt Heart Institute.
“This study deepens our understanding of why women may be at greater risk for stroke and opens the door to more meaningful conversations about pregnancy history between patients and their clinicians,” Bello said in a statement. institute press releases.
One in five pregnancies in the United States is affected by an adverse birth outcome, the researchers said in briefing notes.
A stroke is a medical emergency that occurs when blood flow to the brain stops. It can affect your ability to move, speak, eat, drink, swallow, and see clearly. A stroke can also impair your ability to think and remember, solve problems, or control bodily functions.
Lifestyle interventions such as healthy eating and increased physical activity can reduce the risk of pregnancy-related complications, Bello said. Evidence also suggests using low-dose aspirin to prevent preeclampsia in women who are at higher risk.
For the study, the researchers used data from a Finnish health registry, including more than 144,000 women who gave birth after 1969.
Among them, nearly 317,000 births have been registered.
Investigators found that about 18% had had at least one pregnancy with an adverse pregnancy outcome. About 3% of women experienced an adverse pregnancy outcome after two or more pregnancies.
Those who had pregnancy complications tended to have more health problems, such as obesity, high blood pressure, heart disease and migraine.
Among those who had a stroke, the stroke occurred at an earlier age, at 52.6 years on average, in women who experienced at least two adverse pregnancy outcomes. This was compared to 54.8 years in women with an adverse pregnancy outcome and 58.3 years in those with uncomplicated pregnancies.
“Specifically, women with recurrent adverse pregnancy outcomes had more than twice the risk of stroke before age 45,” Bello said. “This underscores the need for women to share their pregnancy history with their doctors, particularly if they have neurological symptoms regarding stroke or transient ischemic attack (TIA) which tends to resolve within minutes to a few minutes. hours.” A TIA is often called a mini-stroke.
Bello would like to see a similar, more diverse study done in the United States.
“We also need future research to examine the impact of adding adverse pregnancy outcome into stroke risk calculators. This may better help us stratify risk in women and develop strategies on how to apply prevention strategies such as cholesterol and blood pressure control,” she said.
The results of the study were published on May 22 in the journal Stroke.
SOURCE: Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, press release, May 22, 2023
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