Heart Risk Higher after Pregnancy Problems

Some pregnancy problems may signal a higher risk of heart disease or stroke later, a new study suggests. The research focused on more than 3,400 women in a long-term health study. About 30% had some kind of problem with their pregnancy. About 5% had 2 problems. These included preeclampsia, which causes high blood pressure and other health problems. Some other women had gestational diabetes. This is high blood sugar that occurs only during pregnancy. At about age 50, all of the women received health checkups. Factors that increase the risk of heart disease were 31% more common among those who had preeclampsia while pregnant. For example, they tended to have more excess weight and higher blood pressure than other women. Heart disease risk factors were 26% more common in women who had gestational diabetes. In particular, they tended to have higher blood sugar than other women.