Sisters of Women with Pregnancy Complications Face Higher Cardiovascular Risks
A study suggests that sisters of women with complicated pregnancies are at a higher risk of cardiovascular disease, even without complications themselves. The research indicates shared genetic factors may contribute to this increased risk.
The sisters of women who have complicated pregnancies may find themselves at greater risk of cardiovascular disease, research suggests.
A study of more than 1.2 million women found that those who suffered from pregnancy conditions such as pre-eclampsia, or who gave birth to a small baby, were more than twice as likely to suffer a stroke or heart failure.
Surprisingly, their sisters are also 40 percent more likely to have these cardiovascular problems after giving birth, and the increased risk was observed in sisters who had no pregnancy complications themselves.
Pregnancy complications and cardiovascular disease may both be influenced by similar genes in women, meaning that sisters who share genetic traits could have a greater risk of both health issues.
The findings of the Swedish study suggest that it is not only pregnancy complications that can trigger cardiovascular disease at a relatively young age.
The sisters of women with pregnancy complications may experience an increased risk of cardiovascular disease after the impact of carrying a baby on their heart and blood vessels.
Despite this, cardiovascular disease remains uncommon among women until later life, with only 780 women in the large study developing it after pregnancy complications, and only 151 sisters being diagnosed.
Dr Angla Mantel, who led the study from the Karolinska Institute in Sweden, stated: "It may be important to identify these women early to offer preventive treatment for pregnancy complications, as well as lifestyle counselling and follow-up for cardiovascular disease risk."
The study looked at cardiovascular disease in women for an average of 14 years after they first gave birth to a child.
Researchers studied around 165,000 women with pregnancy complications. Almost a third of these women had a sister who had given birth without complications, and about 60,000 of these sisters were analysed.
This group was compared to 992,108 unrelated women who had given birth in the same period without pregnancy complications.
The group with pregnancy complications was found to be 2.33 times more likely to develop cardiovascular disease.
Furthermore, the study published in the European Heart Journal indicated that their sisters had a 72 percent higher risk of developing heart failure.
Experts suggest that some sisters may share a risk of cardiovascular disease due to factors from their upbringing, such as diet or exercise.
