Giving birth is associated with a 14% higher risk of heart disease and stroke compared to having no children, reports a study published today in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology, a journal of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC).
“The mechanisms underlying the associations we observed are complex,” said study author Dr Dongming Wang, of the School of Public Health, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China. “Pregnancy may lead to inflammation in the body, and the accumulation of fat around the abdomen, in the blood, and in the arteries. These changes could have permanent effects on the cardiovascular system, leading to a higher risk of heart and stroke later in life.”
It’s known that the heart works harder during pregnancy to meet the needs of the mother and foetus. But the impact of pregnancy on the development of subsequent heart disease is controversial. The authors compiled data from around the world to conduct a meta-analysis. Ten studies were included involving 3,089,929 women, of whom 150,512 developed heart disease or stroke during an average follow-up of 6 to 52 years.
Read more at European Society of Cardiology
Photo credit: rawpixel via Pixabay