Women with hypertensive disorders of pregnancy (HDP) have an increased risk for cardiovascular disease (CVD) later in life, with most of the increased risk conferred by established CVD risk factors, according to a study published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. Jennifer J. Stuart, ScD, and colleagues examined the association among 60,379 parous participants without CVD. Compared with women with normotensive pregnancies, women with HDP in their first pregnancy had a 63% higher rate of CVD. Established CVD risk factors mediated this association (proportion mediated, 64%). The increased CVD rate was higher for preeclampsia than gestational hypertension (HRs, 1.72 and 1.41, respectively). Established CVD risk factors accounted for 57% and 84% of the increased rate of CVD for pre-eclampsia and gestational hypertension, respectively. “Our findings suggest that screening for and treatment of chronic hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, T2DM, and overweight/obesity following a pregnancy may delay, or even prevent, cardiovascular disease among women with a history of HDP,” the study authors wrote.
