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Women who experienced hypertensive disorders of pregnancy (HDPs) but did not develop chronic hypertension have a greater risk of premature mortality, specifically cardiovascular disease (CVD)-related deaths, according to a study published in the
Journal of the American College of Cardiology (
JACC). A separate
JACC study examined the cardiovascular health risks associated with pregnancy in obese women with heart disease.
HDPs, which occur in approximately 10% of all pregnancies worldwide, are among the most common health issues during pregnancy. There are four types of HDPs: chronic hypertension, gestational hypertension (GHTN), preeclampsia and chronic hypertension with superimposed preeclampsia. GHTN and preeclampsia, which occur at or after 20 weeks gestation, are leading causes of maternal and perinatal morbidity and mortality. While women with a history of HDPs have a three to five times higher risk of developing chronic hypertension, it is unclear whether the a
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Women who had hypertensive disorders of pregnancy were at higher risk of dying before reaching age 70 whether or not they developed chronic hypertension, a retrospective study showed.
Among nearly 90,000 women who were pregnant from 1989 to 2009, gestational hypertension or pre-eclampsia was linked to a higher likelihood of premature death (adjusted HR 1.31, 95% CI 1.18-1.46), according to Jorge Chavarro, MD, ScD, of Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health in Boston, and colleagues.
The uptick in premature deaths was driven by differences in mortality due to:
Cardiovascular disease (CVD; HR 2.26, 95% CI 1.67-3.07)
Infectious diseases (HR 2.77, 95% CI 1.38-5.54)
Respiratory diseases (HR 2.26, 95% CI 1.29-3.98)
PIXABAY/PEXELS.COM Though we’ve leaped from American Heart Month into March, it’s a yearlong message that we share: heart disease is the most common cause of death and disability in adults in the United States. Sadly, many women are not aware of the magnitude of this risk. To raise awareness, Dr. Lisa Freed, a cardiologist at the Yale New Haven Hospital’s
Women’s Heart and Vascular Program, recently joined me for a discussion on
Your Radio Doctor, a medical talk show that airs every Sunday morning at 10 a.m. on Talk Radio 1210 WPHT. She reminded listeners