Between 1-6% of all pregnancies in Western countries are affected by high blood pressure, which usually returns to normal after giving birth. This condition is known as gestational hypertension, or pregnancy-induced hypertension. It differs from pre-eclampsia in that traces of protein are not found in the urine. Clinicians increasingly recognise that women who have had gestational hypertension are more likely to develop cardiovascular disease in later life.
However, studies of different kinds of cardiovascular disease, such as heart disease and heart failure, have found mixed results. To examine these links further, an international team of researchers conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of 21 studies involving a total of 3.6 million women, 128,000 of who previously had gestational hypertension. This type of study is a way of combining data from all existing relevant studies, allowing researchers to compare and consolidate results from often-contradictory studies to reach more robust conclusions.
The results are published in the Journal of the American Heart Association.
The researchers found that women who experienced high blood pressure during their first pregnancy were at 45% higher risk of overall cardiovascular disease and 46% higher risk of coronary heart disease compared to women who did not have high blood pressure in pregnancy. Women with one or more pregnancies affected by high blood pressure were at 81% higher risk of cardiovascular disease, 83% higher risk of coronary heart disease and 77% higher risk of heart failure.
Image: Pregnant woman
Credit: Free-Photos
Reproduced courtesy of the University of Cambridge