High blood pressure during pregnancy linked to thinking problems later
Study finds even greater risk in those with preeclampsia, eclampsia

Date:
March 1, 2023
Source:
American Academy of Neurology
Summary:
High blood pressure disorders during pregnancy are associated with
an increased risk of thinking problems later in life, according
to a study.

Researchers found that those with these disorders had a higher
risk of cognitive problems in later life than those who did not
have high blood pressure during pregnancy. They also found that
those with preeclampsia, which is high blood pressure that develops
halfway through pregnancy and usually involves the kidneys and other
organs, may have an even greater risk of cognitive decline later
in life, compared to those with gestational high blood pressure,
a condition with high blood pressure in pregnancy but without
affecting the kidneys or other organs.


Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIN Email
FULL STORY ==========================================================================
High blood pressure disorders during pregnancy are associated with
an increased risk of thinking problems later in life, according to a
study published in the March 1, 2023, online issue of Neurology(R),
the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. Researchers
found that those with these disorders had a higher risk of cognitive
problems in later life than those who did not have high blood pressure
during pregnancy. They also found that those with preeclampsia, which is
high blood pressure that develops halfway through pregnancy and usually involves the kidneys and other organs, may have an even greater risk
of cognitive decline later in life, compared to those with gestational
high blood pressure, a condition with high blood pressure in pregnancy
but without affecting the kidneys or other organs.


========================================================================== "While high blood pressure during pregnancy, including preeclampsia,
is recognized as a risk factor for heart disease and stroke, our study
suggests that it may also be a risk factor for cognitive decline in
later life," said study author Michelle M. Mielke, PhD, of Wake Forest University School of Medicine in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, and a
member of the American Academy of Neurology.

The study involved 2,239 female participants with an average age of 73.

Researchers looked at medical records for information about previous pregnancies.

Of the participants, 1,854 people or 83% had at least one pregnancy,
and 385 people or 17% never had a pregnancy or had a pregnancy of less
than 20 weeks.

Of those with pregnancies longer than 20 weeks, 100 had gestational
high blood pressure, 147 had preeclampsia or eclampsia and 1,607 had
normal blood pressure. Preeclampsia is when there is excess protein in
the urine during pregnancy. Eclampsia is when high blood pressure during pregnancy causes one or more seizures, sometimes followed by a coma.

For the study, participants took nine memory and thinking tests every 15
months over an average of five years. The tests measured thinking and
memory skills including global cognition, processing speed, executive
function, language and visual perception.

Overall, researchers found that those with high blood pressure during
pregnancy had a greater decline than those without high blood pressure
during pregnancy and those who had not given birth on tests of global cognition, attention, executive function and language.

After adjusting for age and education, the average composite score of
all memory and thinking tests of participants with any type of high blood pressure disorder had a decline of 0.3 points compared to those who did
not have high blood pressure during pregnancy with a decline of 0.05
points. When looking at different types of high blood pressure disorders,
those with preeclampsia had a decline of 0.04 points compared to those
with other blood pressure disorders and those with no blood pressure
disorders, which both had a decline of 0.05.

After adjusting for age and education, those with high blood pressure
in pregnancy declined 0.4 standard deviation over five years on
tests of executive function and attention, compared to those who
had normal blood pressure for all pregnancies and declined only 0.1
standard deviation. These results were more pronounced for those who
had preeclampsia, with a 0.5 standard deviation decrease on tests of
executive function and attention compared to a 0.1 decrease for those
who had normal blood pressure for all pregnancies.

"More research is needed to confirm our findings. However, these results suggest that managing and monitoring blood pressure during and after
pregnancy is an important factor for brain health later in life,"
Mielke said.

A limitation of the study is that most of the participants were white,
so results may not be generalizable to more diverse populations that
have higher rates of high blood pressure in pregnancy.

The study was funded by National Institutes of Health and the Gerald
and Henrietta Rauenhorst Foundation.

* RELATED_TOPICS
o Health_&_Medicine
# Hypertension # Heart_Disease # Blood_Clots # Anemia
o Mind_&_Brain
# Intelligence # Educational_Psychology #
Obstructive_Sleep_Apnea # K-12_Education
* RELATED_TERMS
o Blood_pressure o Hypertension o Nutrition_and_pregnancy
o Diabetes o Boiling o Premature_birth o Acupressure o
Hypercholesterolemia

========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by American_Academy_of_Neurology. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Calin I Prodan. Bridging the Gap Between Hypertensive Disorders of
Pregnancy and Cognitive Decline in Older Women. Neurology, 2023
DOI: 10.1212/WNL.0000000000207237 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/03/230301162703.htm

--- up 1 year, 2 days, 10 hours, 50 minutes
* Origin: -=> Castle Rock BBS <=- Now Husky HPT Powered! (1:317/3)