“Women with Pre-Eclampsia Face Increased Risk of Heart Attack and Stroke Years After Delivery”

A new study published this week in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology reveals that women with pre-eclampsia have a higher risk of heart attack and stroke than their peers within just seven years after delivery. The risk remains elevated more than 20 years later.^[0] The study, conducted on more than one million pregnant women in Denmark between 1978 and 2017, revealed that women with pre-eclampsia were four times more likely to have a heart attack and three times more likely to have a stroke within 10 years of delivery compared to those without pre-eclampsia. This risk was still twice as high in the pre-eclampsia group more than 20 years after giving birth.

Dr. Hallum, one of the study’s authors, commented: “Our study suggests that the women most likely to benefit from screening are those who had pre-eclampsia after age 35 and those who had it more than once. Prevention should start within a decade of delivery, for example by treating high blood pressure and informing women about risk factors for heart disease such as smoking and inactivity.”^[1]

The research team also studied the health records of 217 pregnant women with stroke, 7,604 nonpregnant patients with stroke, and 1,496,256 pregnant patients without stroke. They found that 41.6 percent of the 202 pregnant patients with stroke who survived the index stroke admission subsequently died or were readmitted during follow-up.^[2] Pregnant patients with stroke had a lower risk for death and all-cause readmission compared with nonpregnant patients with stroke (hazard ratio, 0.64) at one-year follow-up; however, this association did not persist during longer-term follow-up. Pregnant patients with stroke had a significantly higher risk of death and readmission at one year as compared to pregnant patients without stroke (hazard ratio, 5.70), and this higher risk persisted for 10 years.

These findings emphasize the need for early detection and prevention of pre-eclampsia in pregnant women.^[3] Women who have had pre-eclampsia should be aware of their higher risk of heart attack or stroke in the long-term and should seek medical help if they experience any symptoms.

0. “Pre-Eclampsia Linked to Heart Attack and Stroke Risk” Inside Precision Medicine, 26 Jan. 2023, https://www.insideprecisionmedicine.com/topics/molecular-dx-topic/prenatal-postnatal-testing/pre-eclampsia-linked-to-heart-attack-and-stroke-risk/

1. “Pre-eclampsia raises risk of heart attack four-fold, study warns” Daily Mail, 26 Jan. 2023, https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-11676055/Pre-eclampsia-raises-risk-heart-attack-four-fold-study-warns.html

2. “Long-Term Health Consequences Seen for Stroke in Pregnancy” YakTriNews KAPP-KVEW, 24 Jan. 2023, https://www.yaktrinews.com/news/health/long-term-health-consequences-seen-for-stroke-in-pregnancy/article_7c2198ef-f4f8-5d36-9960-36715165d502.html

3. “Preeclampsia in Pregnancy a Bad Sign for Women’s Future Heart Health” KPVI News 6, 26 Jan. 2023, https://www.kpvi.com/interests/preeclampsia-in-pregnancy-a-bad-sign-for-womens-future-heart-health/article_09176bb5-5c44-544b-9e29-cd6d570de63a.html