Suche
Mein Konto
Sisters of women with pregnancy complications are at higher risk of cardiovascular disease
Women who have experienced pregnancy complications are at increased risk of cardiovascular disease. Now, a new study from Karolinska Institutet, published in the European Heart Journal, shows that sisters of women with complicated pregnancies also have a higher risk, even if they had uncomplicated pregnancies. The results suggest that genes and common environmental factors may influence the association between pregnancy complications and cardiovascular disease risk. Complications during pregnancy, such as high blood pressure and preterm labor, are known to increase the risk of cardiovascular disease later in life. However, it is unknown whether this association can be explained by family factors. The …
Sisters of women with pregnancy complications are at higher risk of cardiovascular disease
Women who have experienced pregnancy complications are at increased risk of cardiovascular disease. Now, a new study from the Karolinska Institutet, published in theEuropean Heart Journalshows that sisters of women with complicated pregnancies also have a higher risk, even if they had uncomplicated pregnancies. The results suggest that genes and common environmental factors may influence the association between pregnancy complications and cardiovascular disease risk.
Complications during pregnancy, such as high blood pressure and preterm labor, are known to increase the risk of cardiovascular disease later in life. However, it is unknown whether this association can be explained by family factors. The researchers examined this through a registration study of Swedish women who gave birth to their first child between 1992 and 2019.
Researchers identified women who had experienced pregnancy complications and their sisters who had given birth during the same period but had not experienced a pregnancy complication. They compared the risk of developing cardiovascular disease for women with complicated pregnancies, their sisters with uncomplicated pregnancies, and an unrelated control group. The study showed that the sisters also had a nearly 40 percent higher risk of cardiovascular disease compared to women in the control group.
Our results show that the risk of cardiovascular disease following a pregnancy complication does not only depend on the pregnancy itself, but can be influenced by genes and environmental factors. “
Ängla Mantel, lead author, lecturer at the Department of Medicine, Solna, Karolinska Institutet
The results suggest that women with pregnancy complications and their sisters may benefit from interventions to prevent cardiovascular disease.
“It may be important to identify these women early to provide preventive treatment for pregnancy complications as well as lifestyle advice and follow-up for cardiovascular disease risks,” says Ängla Mantel.
The study was funded by SFOEPI at Karolinska Institutet and the Swedish Heart-Lung Foundation.
Sources:
Coat, Ä.,et al. (2025). Adverse pregnancy outcomes, familial predisposition, and cardiovascular risk: a Swedish nationwide study. European Heart Journal. doi.org/10.1093/eurheartj/ehae889.