Research highlights:

• An analysis of the health records of around 110,000 women in the UK found that long-term survival rates were lower for women who had poorer cardiovascular health after pregnancy or who experienced adverse pregnancy outcomes such as high blood pressure, gestational diabetes or premature birth. It turned out that it was significantly higher. Risk of developing cardiovascular disease.
• Among women who had a poor pregnancy outcome, those who maintained good cardiovascular health after pregnancy had a similar risk of cardiovascular disease as women without a history of pregnancy complications.

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CHICAGO, March 21, 2024 — Women with a history of adverse pregnancy complications are at a significantly higher risk of developing heart disease, but they are not at optimal risk for heart disease after pregnancy, according to a preliminary study published in the American Heart Association’s Epidemiology. It was found that the risk can be reduced by maintaining good health. and Prevention | Lifestyle and Cardiometabolic Science Session 2024, March 18-21, Chicago. This conference will provide the latest science on population-based health and wellness and lifestyle influences.

“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,” said lead author of the study and Boston Medical said Frank Chen, MD, MPH, a cardiovascular medicine fellow and clinician at the center. Lecturer at Boston University Chobanian and Avedisyan School of Medicine. “However, it is unclear how much of this increased cardiovascular disease risk may be modifiable by healthy lifestyle behaviors.”

Adverse pregnancy outcomes investigated in this study included placental abruption, gestational diabetes, small size for gestational age, preterm birth, and/or gestational hypertension, defined as preeclampsia or gestational hypertension. I was there. Additionally, many adverse pregnancy outcomes are associated with the future development of CVD risk factors such as hypertension, type 2 diabetes, and dyslipidemia, according to the association’s 2021 Statement on Adverse Pregnancy Outcomes and Cardiovascular Disease Risk. Related.

In this study, researchers reviewed data from the UK Biobank to assess the association between Life’s Essential 8 scores and the development of cardiovascular disease in women with and without a history of adverse pregnancy outcomes. Life’s Essential 8 is recommended by the American Heart Association to improve and maintain optimal cardiovascular health, including healthy eating, physical activity, smoking cessation, healthy sleep habits, and managing weight, cholesterol, blood sugar, and blood pressure. It is a defined critical measure. The cardiovascular health score ranges from 0 to 100, with higher scores indicating better cardiovascular health.

This analysis found a significant interaction between adverse pregnancy outcomes, cardiovascular health scores, and cardiovascular events during the 13.5-year follow-up period.

• Women with good cardiovascular health or a Life’s Essential 8 score of 76 or higher after pregnancy had a 57% lower risk of developing cardiovascular disease compared to women with a score of less than 67.
• Women who had complications during pregnancy and had poor cardiovascular health scores after pregnancy had a 148% increased risk of developing cardiovascular disease.
• Among women with a history of pregnancy complications, those who achieved or maintained good heart health after pregnancy were as likely to develop heart disease as women whose pregnancies were unaffected and whose cardiovascular health was poor. It was high risk.
• Women with intermediate and low Life’s Essential 8 scores (scores between 68.2 and 77.5 and scores below 68.1, respectively), with or without a history of poor pregnancies, had a 25% and 81% increased risk of heart disease, respectively. did.

“What surprised us most was that women who had a history of pregnancy complications and who were able to achieve and maintain high levels of cardiovascular health after pregnancy were at increased risk for future cardiovascular disease. “What we found was a significant reduction. They essentially had the same CVD risk as women who had no history of adverse pregnancy outcomes and also had good cardiovascular health,” Qian said. Stated.

“These findings are important not only for clinical practice but also for designing public health interventions and policies. We need to focus on ensuring that patients have access to lifestyle and treatment improvements.”

Research background and details:

• The UK Biobank is a large biomedical database and research resource containing the health records of approximately 500,000 registered adults living in the UK and receiving care through the UK National Health Service from 2006 to 2010. . Researchers accessed his data in April 2023.
• The study included 2,263 women with a previous diagnosis of an adverse pregnancy outcome and 107,260 women without a history of complications during pregnancy. None of the participants had cardiovascular disease at the start of the study.
• The mean age of participants at enrollment was 50.2 years for women with a history of adverse pregnancy outcomes and 56.6 years for women without a history of adverse pregnancy outcomes.
• Over a mean follow-up of 13.5 years, 197 cardiovascular disease events were recorded in women with a history of poor pregnancy.
• 95.2% of participants identified themselves as white. 4.8% self-identified as other races, and the researchers combined these as one group to meet the analysis threshold. Qian said there were no statistical differences in cardiovascular disease outcomes between the two groups.
• The proportion of women who experienced an adverse pregnancy outcome and identified as non-white was 8.2%, compared to 4.8% of participants who had no history of an adverse pregnancy outcome.

Limitations of this study include that it is an observational analysis, meaning that the results do not support causality, and that over 94% of the UK Biobank study population self-identified as white, meaning that the results This included the possibility that it could not be generalized. People of other races and ethnicities.

“Our study includes other ethnically diverse and Ethnic women were under-represented,” Qian said. “Having said that, we observed a trend toward a lower risk of cardiovascular disease in women who maintain good cardiovascular health after pregnancy, so these improvements in cardiovascular health may be similar to those in other ethnic groups.” It should also be beneficial for women of other ethnicities, but further research is needed to confirm this hypothesis. ”

Nieka Goldberg, M.D., clinical associate professor at New York University Grossman School of Medicine, medical director at Atria New York, and volunteer expert for the American Heart Association, who was not involved in the study, said: states. “It has a preventive role in lowering the risk of heart disease in women with pregnancy-related conditions such as pre-eclampsia, preterm birth and gestational diabetes,” she said. “When we applied the Life’s Essential 8 risk score, we found that women with the lowest scores were at increased risk of cardiovascular disease. We want to improve heart health in women with and without pregnancy-related conditions. “Health care professionals should be encouraged to incorporate Life’s Essential 8 into their clinical practice. Additionally, additional research is needed to evaluate the benefits of Life’s Essential 8 in diverse populations of women.”

Co-authors, their disclosures, and funding sources are listed in the abstract.

Research statements and conclusions presented at American Heart Association scientific meetings are solely those of the study authors and do not necessarily reflect the policy or position of the association. The Association makes no representations or warranties regarding its accuracy or reliability. Abstracts presented at the Society’s scientific conferences are not peer-reviewed, but are selected by an independent review committee and considered based on their potential to increase the diversity of scientific issues and views discussed at the conference. The findings are considered preliminary until published as a full manuscript in a peer-reviewed scientific journal.

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Additional resources:

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