Heart troubles in later life may result from high blood pressure in pregnancy

A new study has a revealed that high blood pressure during pregnancy can result in heart troubles later on in life. These women are at a higher risk for metabolic syndrome after the baby is born. Metabolic syndrome involves having three or more of the following conditions: abdominal obesity, high triglyceride levels, low levels of “good” HDL cholesterol, high blood pressure (hypertension), and high blood sugar.

The study included 507 pregnant women from China with no prior history of high blood pressure. During pregnancy, 34 percent of the women had blood pressure in normal-low range, 52 percent had mid-normal range, and 13 percent had high-normal blood pressure range.

Those with high-normal blood pressure were 6.5 times more likely to develop metabolic syndrome after birth, compared to the other women with low or medium blood pressure readings.
Lead investigator Dr. Jian-Min Niu said, “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. 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.”

The researchers concluded, “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.”

Also, read Bel Marra Health’s article: Natural ways to improve heart rate and get your heart pumping.