Pregnancy Complications Show Increased Risk of Heart Conditions Later

kate baggott — Mon, 27 Nov 2006 09:22:20 +0000

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.

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Possible Test For Pre-Eclampsia

kate baggott — Fri, 07 Apr 2006 14:01:02 +0000

It’s never to early to start thinking about your next pregnancy (hahahaha).

Seriously though, if you had pre-eclampsia last time, then a new test might be able to help you next time. That’s according to an article in Macleans’ Magazine. Pre-eclampsia is recognised by high blood pressure, unexplained weight gain and protein in the urine. It affects 3 to 8% of pregnant women and the only cure is delivery of the baby.

According to the article the test relies on measuring two substances in the pregnant mother’s blood. All text quoted below is directly from the Macleans’ health section report:

Dr. Abdelaziz Kharfi, a professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of Sherbrooke in Quebec, has found that high concentrations of two substances in the blood — human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) and hydrogen peroxide — can indicate a woman is on course to develop pre-eclampsia.

Seeing raised hCG levels is not new, he says. What is new is the observation that the more the hydrogen peroxide levels go up, the more hCG levels also rise.

At present, pre-eclampsia can only be diagnosed after the 20th week of pregnancy, but Kharfi says the test could detect the condition during the first few weeks, when treatment may be possible. “Antioxidant treatment with vitamins C and E, anti-inflammatories or anti-hypertensive medications are all therapies that might be able to treat this condition.”

At present, pre-eclampsia can only be diagnosed after the 20th week of pregnancy, but Kharfi says the test could detect the condition during the first few weeks, when treatment may be possible. “Antioxidant treatment with vitamins C and E, anti-inflammatories or anti-hypertensive medications are all therapies that might be able to treat this condition.”

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Babylune » pregnancy-complications

Pregnancy Complications Show Increased Risk of Heart Conditions Later

Possible Test For Pre-Eclampsia