Skip to main content

Heart Effects of High Blood Pressure in Pregnancy Could Linger

Medically reviewed by Carmen Pope, BPharm. Last updated on Dec 28, 2023.

By Carole Tanzer Miller HealthDay Reporter

THURSDAY, Dec. 28, 2023 — New research suggests the effects of high blood pressure during pregnancy may be long-lasting.

Researchers found that women who developed high blood pressure during pregnancy had tell-tale signs of abnormal heart structure and function up to a decade later.

"This study helps to clarify that, for some women, pregnancy is not just a 'stress test' that unmasks underlying cardiovascular risks," said senior author Dr. Susan Cheng, director of the Institute for Research on Healthy Aging in the cardiology department at Cedars-Sinai's Smidt Heart Institute in Los Angeles. "This risk may also affect the heart years after pregnancy."

Her team looked at more than 5,000 Hispanic women who had at least one pregnancy and identified those who had disorders during pregnancy such as gestational high blood pressure, preeclampsia or eclampsia.

After accounting for other risk factors that might lead to early signs of heart disease, researchers reported that heart images showed persistent problems in about 14% of participants who had high blood pressure problems during pregnancy. They included thicker heart walls, abnormalities in the left ventricle and weakened pumping compared to women who had also been pregnant but had no related high blood pressure disorder.

"This study confirms the results of others and demonstrates that women who experience a hypertensive disorder during their pregnancy are more likely to have lasting changes in the structure and function of their hearts than women who have normal blood pressure during their pregnancy," study co-author Dr. Natalie Bellow, director of hypertension research at the Smidt Heart Institute, said in a Cedars-Sinai news release. "Further, this work shows that only a portion of the abnormalities in the heart are explained by the woman's current blood pressure."

While their numbers in the United States are growing, Hispanic women have been poorly represented in medical studies. These researchers used data from a multi-center, community-based study of Hispanics to examine this population.

They said, however, that the findings are not likely to be specific to any particular ethnicity, race or national origin.

The findings were recently published in the journal Hypertension.

Sources

  • Cedars-Sinai, news release, Dec. 23, 2023

Disclaimer: Statistical data in medical articles provide general trends and do not pertain to individuals. Individual factors can vary greatly. Always seek personalized medical advice for individual healthcare decisions.

© 2024 HealthDay. All rights reserved.

Posted December 2023

Read this next

Mummies Study Finds Heart Disease Plagued the Ancients, Too

THURSDAY, May 30, 2024 -- Folks typically think of heart disease as a byproduct of modern fast-food living, but a new study shows the condition has plagued humanity for...

Stroke Rates Are Rising, Especially Among the Young

THURSDAY, May 23, 2024 -- The rate at which Americans under the age of 65 suffered a stroke rose by about 15% between 2011 and 2022, new government data shows. That was true even...

Blood Pressure Meds Raise Fracture Risks for Those in Nursing Homes

MONDAY, May 20, 2024 -- Blood pressure medications appear to more than double the risk of life-threatening bone fractures among nursing home residents, a new study warns. The...

More news resources

Subscribe to our newsletter

Whatever your topic of interest, subscribe to our newsletters to get the best of Drugs.com in your inbox.