Hypertensive pregnancy disorders linked to future cardiac events
pharmafile | May 12, 2022 | News story | Business Services |
A study funded by the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) has explained factors linked to increased risk for heart attack or stroke among women who have pregnancy problems related to high blood pressure.
Patients who experienced complications related to developing high blood pressure or hypertension during pregnancy had a 63% increased risk factor for developing cardiovascular disease later in life, according to research funded by the National heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), part of the NIH.
“Women with a history of gestational hypertension or preeclampsia should be informed that they have an increased risk for cardiovascular disease,” said Jennifer J Stuart, ScD, a study author and associate epidemiologist in the Division of Women’s Health at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston. “While the American Heart Association and American College of Cardiology recognise these conditions as cardiovascular risk factors, women and their providers have lacked clear direction on what to do in the intervening years between delivery of a hypertensive pregnancy and the onset of cardiovascular disease.”
While hypertensive pregnancy complications have previously been linked to increased cardiovascular risks, the current study controlled for pre-pregnancy shared risk factors for these types of complications and cardiovascular disease.
Chronic hypertension was the largest contributor to increased cardiovascular risk, accounting for 81% of increased cardiovascular disease risks among those who had gestational hypertension, and 48% of increased risks among those who had preeclampsia. Chronic hypertension is the term for having chronic high blood pressure, and increases an individual’s risk of heart attack, stroke, heart failure, and kidney disease.
“This study reinforces how important it is for women and their healthcare providers to address known cardiovascular disease risk factors, such as obesity or having high blood pressure, while thinking about starting a family and then during and after during pregnancy,” said Victoria Pemberton, RNC, a program officer at NHLBI.
The research was supported by grants from the National Cancer Institute and Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.
Investigating these pathways and better understanding these connections will help researchers to provide insight helping healthcare providers give more personalised recommendations and strategies for patients at greatest risk.
Ana Ovey
