A new study, published Wednesday in the Journal of the American Heart Association, revealed a significant link between depression during pregnancy and cardiovascular disease within two years of childbirth. File Photo by
lisa runnels/
Pixabay
April 19 (UPI) -- Developing cardiovascular disease within two years of giving birth may be linked to depression during pregnancy, according to new research that shows a significant risk for ischemic heart disease, even without gestational hypertension.
The study, published Wednesday in the Journal of the American Heart Association, is the first population-based research to investigate a link between prenatal depression -- which affects about 20% of women during pregnancy -- and postpartum cardiovascular disease.
Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of pregnancy-related death in high-income countries, including the United States, according to the American Heart Association.
While this is the first study to link prenatal depression to cardiovascular disease after childbirth, the negative effects of depression on cardiovascular health, in general, are well-documented. Depressed men and women are more likely to develop heart disease later in life, research shows.
"We need to use pregnancy as a window to future health," lead study author Dr. Christina Ackerman-Banks, an assistant professor of obstetrics and gynecology-maternal fetal medicine at Baylor College of Medicine and Texas Children's Hospital in Houston, said in a news release.
"Complications during pregnancy, including prenatal depression, impact long-term cardiovascular health. The postpartum period provides an opportunity to counsel and screen people for cardiovascular disease to prevent these outcomes," Ackerman-Banks said.
For the study, researchers analyzed medical data from more than 100,000 women who gave birth in Maine between 2007 and 2019, while adjusting for other cardiac risk factors, including age, smoking, diabetes and hypertension, as well as depression before pregnancy.
Those who were found to suffer from prenatal depression had an 83% higher risk of ischemic heart disease, which is caused by narrowed heart arteries supplying blood to the heart muscle, than those who did not experience depression during pregnancy.
They also had a 60% higher risk of cardiac arrest, 61% more risk of cardiomyopathy and a 32% higher risk of developing high blood pressure, researchers said.
And, those numbers go up with each additional risk factor, including gestational hypertension or preeclampsia, the study said. Other pregnancy cardiac risk factors include chronic inflammation and stress-related hormones.
"Even after excluding those with hypertensive disorders of pregnancy, those with depression during pregnancy still had a significantly higher risk of ischemic heart disease, arrhythmia, stroke, cardiomyopathy and new chronic hypertension postpartum."
As prenatal checkups monitor the more commonly known heart disease risk factors, Ackerman-Banks suggested adding depression to the list.
"I recommend that anyone diagnosed with prenatal depression be aware of the implications on their long-term cardiovascular health, take steps to screen for other risk factors and consult their primary care doctor to implement prevention strategies for cardiovascular disease," Ackerman-Banks said.
"They should also be screened for Type 2 diabetes and high cholesterol and implement an exercise regimen, healthy diet and quit smoking."
