Pregnancy Complications Show Increased Risk of Heart Conditions Later
November 27, 2006 by kate baggott
Filed under Health
If you had gestational diabetes or pre-eclampsia during pregnancy, you should assume you are at greater risk of developing diabetes or a heart condition later in life.
According to Dr. Joel Ray from St. Michael’s Hospital and the University of Toronto, there is evidence that gestational diabetes and pre-eclampsia in pregnancy signal a greater risk of cardiovascular risk later in life. “Action must be taken to offset a sequence of disabling — and preventable — conditions,” Ray told Maclean’s magazine. “So how can this be done? The simplest and most pragmatic answer is to promote lower energy intake and higher energy expenditure, starting at an early age.”
In other words, women should see pre-ecclampsia and gestational diabetes not as just pregnancy complication that end after the birth, but as a wake up call that we are at risk of developing a heart condition.
The Maclean’s article continues:
- Ray says gestational diabetes affects five per cent of pregnant women. Thirty years after a pregnancy with gestational diabetes, women are far more likely to have high waist circumference, high blood pressure and high levels of fat particles called triglycerides in the blood.
Managing that risk means watching your caloric intake and getting regular exercise such as a daily walk.
I’ve heard the same thing. I didn’t have gestational diabetes, but did have pregnancy induced hypertension with both children. It wasn’t bad enough for the doctors to label it as pre-eclampsia, but I still have to monitor my blood pressure. My aunt had gestational diabetes and a decade later she is borderline diabetic. Unfortunately, HBP runs in my family.
Karen- I think every illness is a wake up call for us to take better care of ourselves.
I’d always heard that pre-eclampsia was not weight related. Hmmm. My sister had pre-eclampsia the first time around and GD the second. She’s not a whisp of a girl, but not terribly overweight. He says the cure is to eat less and move more. It sounds like that means that there is a link between heaviness and pre-ec?? (I know there is with GD…)
Jill: I don’t know. My aunt was not overweight and she had pre-eclampsia. She was on bed rest, I think with both pregnancies. HBP just runs in our family. I had pregnancy induced hypertension. It wasn’t so bad that I had to be put on bed rest, but for me resting seemed to be key. The more I did, the worse mine was. I worked full-time as a teacher with my first child, so I wasn’t able to rest until the evenings. With my second child I only worked part-time as a teacher, so I was able to rest more frequently. My blood pressure wasn’t as bad with the second child. I attributed it to being able to rest more.
Jill- There have been other studies that show your waist circumfrence increases with stress hormones that affect the heart. In other words, a larger waist in terms of proportion rather than total weight gain can lead to a lot of health problems. So if anyone has a choice, it’s much healthier to get a fat bum and hips.
I didn’t get big with either of my kids. In fact, I remember being 6-7 months along and some people not knowing I was pregnant. I didn’t even have to wear maternity clothes. My weight shifted around with both of my kids. For me, I think genetics was the main factor.
Karen, I am not sure the size you become during pregnancy is as much an indicator as it is after childbearing is complete, but genetics certainly plays a role.
We should ask Hsien to figure out the pregnancy complications genetic risk for us. She could probably write a hundred Genetics and Health posts on it.
I think genetics is a huge part of it. I had some complications after giving birth that I inherited from my mom.
There’s probably lots to write about. Hsien could probably start a new blog.
Shew! I’ve heard that apple-shaped women have higher risk for heart disease before. Great news for me since I am bootylicious! Despite being.. soft and huggable, it’s mainly in my hips, thighs and booty! Thank goodness for small mercies! haha.