"The Danger of High Blood
 Pressure During Pregnancy..."

Those women who experience high blood pressure during pregnancy may face serious health problems later in life.  Research shows that they often have elevated rates of cardiovascular disease and kidney disease later in years.

.........After examining medical histories of almost 5,000 women with a high family risk of hypertension the incidence of later health problems were recognized. 

The data was gathered by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute Family Blood Pressure Program.

643 women had problems with high blood pressure during a previous pregnancy.

Rates of heart attack and stroke-were compared to those of women who had pregnancies without high blood pressure or who had never had a pregnancy lasting longer than 6 months.

Those women who experienced high blood pressure during pregnancy had significantly higher rates of various types of heart and kidney problems after age 40.

Stroke

The risk of stroke was twice as high as that of women with normal pregnancies, while the risk of coronary heart disease was 1.5 times higher.

Women with hypertensive pregnancies were also 1.5 times more likely to develop high blood pressure after age 40.

Hypertension during pregnancy was also associated with an increased risk of small amounts of the protein albumin in their urine, an early sign of kidney disease.

It is estimated that ten percent of pregnant women experience high blood pressure. It remains a leading cause of health problems and death for both mother and baby.

In the past these hypertensive pregnancy disorders - including a potentially serious complication called pre-eclampsia -have not been considered to have any long-term impact on the mother's health. 

Health Risk

The recent study supports the role of hypertension during pregnancy as a risk factor for health problems later in life.

It may be that these disorders, especially pre-eclampsia, share common risk factors with obesity, diabetes, and kidney disease.

Or, it may be that hypertension in pregnancy induces long-term metabolic and vascular abnormalities, which may lead to an increase in later heart problems.

High blood pressure during pregnancy is an under-recognized risk factor for women. When evaluating a woman's overall health profile for heart disease, doctors should screen for hypertensive disorders during pregnancy.

Women who had high blood pressure problems during pregnancies should be monitored closely for asymptomatic cardiovascular events and treated aggressively for modifiable risk factors.

This study was conducted by the American Society of Nephrology, a nonprofit organization of near ten thousand physicians and scientists. http://www.asn-online.org/

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Pregnancy and High Blood Pressure