Having a common birth complication such as preterm birth, preeclampsia, high blood pressure and gestational diabetes puts women at increased risk of developing peripheral artery disease in later life.
As reported in PLOS Medicine, all five of the common complications listed were associated with an increased risk for peripheral artery disease, a form of atherosclerosis in the legs, up to 46 years after giving birth in a large Swedish study.
Overall, women with gestational diabetes had almost four-times higher risk of developing peripheral artery disease than women who had a healthy pregnancy with preeclampsia, high maternal blood pressure, preterm birth or small for gestational age babies increasing risk 1.3–1.7-fold.
“Peripheral artery disease affects more than 230 million people worldwide and is a strong predictor of future stroke, ischemic heart disease, and premature mortality,” write Casey Crump, MD, PhD, an epidemiologist and family physician at McGovern Medical School, and colleagues.
“Despite its high prevalence and clinical importance, it is understudied compared with other cardiovascular diseases.”
Pregnancy complications such as gestational diabetes and preeclampsia are known to increase the risk of other types of cardiovascular disease so Crump and team carried out a study to assess if this was also the case for peripheral artery disease.
The team drew on Swedish national birth and health registries to follow more than 2.2 million women who had single‑baby pregnancies between 1973 and 2015. They focused on the five common birth complications and tracked new diagnoses of peripheral artery disease from hospital, specialist clinic, and primary care records for up to 46 years after childbirth.
The researchers compared women with and without these complications while accounting for age, education, income, smoking, weight, and existing conditions like hypertension or diabetes. The also compared sisters to check whether shared genes or family lifestyle could fully explain the patterns they saw.
Overall, 13,211 women developed peripheral artery disease, mostly in their early 60s. All the complications were linked to higher risk of arterial disease, with the association becoming stronger with age. Experiencing more than one complication also increased risk further and women with three or more had around three times higher risk of peripheral artery disease in later life than women with none. The research also showed links were not likely to be genetic or related to a shared upbringing.
“Women who experience an adverse pregnancy outcome need early preventive actions and long-term clinical follow-up to reduce their risk for peripheral artery disease and other associated cardiovascular diseases,” write the authors.
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