For women with pregnancy complications, practicing a healthy lifestyle and managing blood pressure, cholesterol, and blood sugar levels after giving birth can significantly reduce the risk of future cardiovascular disease.
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Women with a history of pregnancy complications are at higher risk of cardiovascular disease, but that risk can be significantly lowered, new research suggests.
Living a healthy lifestyle and controlling blood pressure, cholesterol and blood sugar levels after giving birth significantly lowered the risk of future cardiovascular disease to the same level as women without pregnancy complications, the study found. The study results, presented Thursday at the American Heart Association's Epidemiology, Prevention, Lifestyle, and Cardio-Metabolic Health Conference in Chicago, remain preliminary until full results are published in a peer-reviewed journal. It is considered as a thing.
“Previous research has shown that women with a history of adverse pregnancy outcomes tend to be at higher risk of developing cardiovascular disease later in life,” lead researcher Dr. Frank Chen said in a news release. It is shown,” he said. Qian is a cardiology fellow at Boston Medical Center and a clinical instructor at Boston University Chobanian and Avedisyan School of Medicine. “However, it is unclear to what extent this increased cardiovascular disease risk may be modified by healthy lifestyle behaviors.”
According to the 2021 AHA report, many adverse pregnancy outcomes are associated with risk factors for future cardiovascular disease, including high blood pressure, also known as hypertension, type 2 diabetes, and high cholesterol. In the new study, adverse pregnancy outcomes included placental abruption, gestational diabetes, small-for-gestational age, preterm birth, and gestational hypertension, defined as preeclampsia or gestational hypertension.
Qian et al. analyzed data from 2,263 women with a history of poor pregnancies and 107,260 women without a history of complications from the UK Biobank database. All participants were free of cardiovascular disease at the start of the study. Researchers measured each woman's cardiovascular health using her AHA's eight key indicators, called Life's Essential 8. These indicators include eating a healthy diet, staying physically active, not smoking, getting enough sleep, and controlling your weight, cholesterol, blood pressure, and blood. Blood glucose level. Scores range from 0 to 100, with higher scores indicating better cardiovascular health.
Over an average follow-up of 13.5 years, women with good cardiovascular health (scores of 76 or higher) were at greater risk of developing cardiovascular disease after giving birth than women with poor cardiovascular health (scores of less than 67) was 57% lower.
Women who had complicated pregnancies and had poor cardiovascular health after giving birth had a 148% risk of future cardiovascular disease compared to women who had uncomplicated pregnancies and had good heart health. it was high. Even without a history of pregnancy complications, women with low and intermediate cardiovascular health scores had an 81% and 25% higher risk of future cardiovascular disease, respectively.
However, maintaining proper heart health measures after giving birth is extremely beneficial and has leveled the field for women who had adverse pregnancy outcomes. Those who achieved high cardiovascular health scores after pregnancy were at risk for cardiovascular disease, as were those with good heart health and no history of pregnancy complications.
“These findings are important not only for designing public health interventions and policies, but also for clinical practice,” Qian said. “We need to focus on identifying women at high risk and ensuring they receive lifestyle changes and treatments to reduce their long-term risk of cardiovascular disease.”
Dr. Nika Goldberg, a clinical associate professor and cardiologist at New York University's Grossman School of Medicine, said in a news release that a group of women considered to be at high risk for cardiovascular disease may be able to prevent cardiovascular disease. The results of this study are important because they suggest that Goldberg was not involved in the new study.
“Health care professionals should be encouraged to incorporate Life's Essential 8 into their clinical practice to improve heart health in women with and without pregnancy-related conditions,” she said. Goldberg noted that 94% of the women in the study were white, so researchers need to investigate whether the findings apply to women of other races and ethnicities.
