The American Heart Association has just issued a new statement linking the potential development of risk factors for cardiovascular disease to six pregnancy-related complications: preterm delivery, gestational diabetes, hypertensive disorders of pregnancy, small-for-gestational-age (SGA) delivery, placental abruption, and pregnancy loss.
The statement appeared online in the journal Circulation on 29 March.
For those patients with a history of these six pregnancy complications, the writers of the statement encourage more assertive primordial prevention of cardiovascular disease risk factors as well as primary prevention of cardiovascular disease like hypertension, diabetes, abnormal levels of cholesterol, and disease events like heart attacks and strokes.
In a news release, Nisha I. Parikh, MD, MPH and chair of the writing group, explains that the experience of pregnancy complications can offer women and their healthcare professionals the opportunity to learn more about CVD risk and prevention.
The writing group reviewed scientific literature while preparing to write the statement, and several key findings regarding the connection between adverse pregnancy outcomes and heart disease later in life emerged:
The occurrence of gestational hypertension is associated with an increase in risk for cardiovascular disease by 67% and the risk of stroke by 83%.
Incidents of both moderate and severe preeclampsia were associated with a risk for CVD that is more than doubled.
Gestational diabetes is associated with an increased risk for post-pregnancy type 2 diabetes by 10-fold and the risk for CVD by 68%.
The link between preterm delivery before 37 weeks reveals a doubled risk of CVD. As well, preterm delivery has strong associations with heart disease later in life, stroke, and CVD.
Placental abruption is linked with an increase of 82% risk for CVD.
Stillbirth is associated with an increased risk for CVD by approximately twofold.
The statement emphasizes the importance of a healthy diet and exercise for women who have experienced any of these six pregnancy complications to minimise their risk for CVD.
Though the statement is unlikely to affect the classification of CVD risk in women, future guidelines regarding women’s risk for CVD, heart disease, and stroke may be impacted by the statement.
