Aug. 18 (UPI) -- Researchers have found that women who have hypertension during pregnancy may have an increased risk of heart disease and hypertension later in life.
The study, published Aug. 17 in Paediatric & Perinatal Epidemiology, consisted of 146,748 women with a first pregnancy who were followed for four and a half years.
Of the participants, 997 were diagnosed with cardiovascular disease and 6,812 developed hypertension, or high blood pressure.
Researcher found that women with hypertension during pregnancy had a 2.2 times higher risk of developing cardiovascular disease and a 5.6 times higher risk of developing hypertension after pregnancy, compared to women without hypertension during pregnancy.
"This study highlights the need for long-term follow-up of women with a history of hypertension during pregnancy to provide early management of risk factors for cardiovascular disease," Sonia Grandi, Ph.D. candidate at McGill University, said in a news release.
