Having complicated pregnancies increase the risk of dying of cardiovascular diseases
Researchers from University of Bergen have investigated the relation between 40-year-old women鈥檚 pregnancy history and later risk of dying of cardiovascular diseases.
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It is established that women with a complication of pregnancy are at . However, most previous studies have focused on individual complications and not full pregnancy histories.
鈥淧regnancy history is a unique feature of women's health, readily available at no cost, and relevant to the most frequent cause of death facing women鈥�, says Associate Professor, Liv Grimstvedt Kvalvik at the Department of Global Public Health and Primary Care, University of Bergen, Norway
She has, together with Researchers at National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, USA and colleagues at the University of Bergen, investigated the link between a woman's total pregnancy history at 40鈥墆ears of age and her relative risk of dying from atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD).
The study is a part of the -project and the article is published in the .听
Five-time and even higher risk of dying of cardiovascular disease.
The study combined several Norwegian registries covering the period 1967 to 2020. More than 800 000 women surviving to 40鈥墆ears of age were identified.
The main outcome was the time to ASVC mortality through age 69鈥墆ears.
The exposure was a woman's number of recorded pregnancies, from zero to four, and the number of those with complications, such as preterm delivery before 35 gestational weeks, preeclampsia (high blood pressure and protein in the urine), placental abruption (when the placenta separates from the uterus), perinatal death, and term or near鈥恡erm birth weight less than 2700鈥塯rams.
They found that pregnancy history at 40鈥墆ears of age is strongly associated with ASCVD mortality:
鈥淎mong women reaching 40鈥墆ears of age, risk of ASCVD mortality through 69鈥墆ears of age increased with the number of complicated pregnancies in a strong dose鈥搑esponse fashion鈥�, says Kvalvik. 聽聽
Within each level of total number of pregnancies women had by age 40, mortality risk increased with increasing number of complicated pregnancies. Women with more than one complicated pregnancy by 40鈥墆ears of age can have an increased risk of 3-5鈥恌old and even greater. In comparison, women with the lowest with 3 pregnancies without complications, had the lowest ASCVD mortality risk. 聽
Might benefit from interventions at an early age.
鈥淭here is increasing scientific evidence supporting the associations between adverse pregnancy outcomes and later CVD, even as women with complications may be unaware of their increased CVD risk鈥�, says Kvalvik and adds:
鈥淥ur findings support the potential use of complete pregnancy history to identify relatively young women who might benefit from interventions to reduce cardiovascular mortality and morbidity before other clinical indicators of CVD risk have fully emerged鈥�. 聽
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