Researchers have found that prehypertension during pregnancy could increase cardiovascular risks. | Courtesy of Morguefile
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Amanda Rupp | Jun 29, 2016

Prehypertension during pregnancy may increase cardiovascular risks

According to a recent American Heart Association (AHA) Rapid Access Journal Report, pregnant women who have prehypertension may have an increased chance of developing cardiovascular problems.

This is the first study of its kind of demonstrate that these blood pressure levels may be unacknowledged signs of future cardio-metabolic problems for women.

“Our findings underscore an important issue that has been long ignored in clinical practice — the fact that criteria for hypertension in pregnancy are derived from the general population,” Dr. Jian-Min Niu, lead study investigator in the Department of Obstetrics at Guangdong Women and Children Hospital in China, said. “We anticipate that if reaffirmed in further research, our study could spark a change in what we currently deem healthy blood pressure in pregnant women.”

Pregnant women with slight blood pressure rises, even within higher levels of normal blood pressure levels, are more likely to have metabolic syndrome after they birth their children.

“Blood pressure measurements are already done as matter of routine and cost-effective checkups during pregnancy, so our findings underscore this tool’s potential to gauge a woman’s postpartum cardiovascular risk,” Niu said. “Early identification of metabolic risk factors and implementation of lifestyle modifications may help delay the onset of cardiovascular disease that would present itself 20 to 30 years after delivery.”

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