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Childbirth increases risk for CVD
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Women who had given birth are at an increased risk for CVD, according to a meta-analysis published in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology.
The number of pregnancies was associated with the risk for CVD, according to the study.
“Doctors have a role to play here,” Dongming Wang, MD, of the department of occupational and environmental health at Huazhong University of Science and Technology Tongji Medical College in Hubei, China, said in a press release. “Women should know that having children may raise their chance of future heart disease or stroke, and that more pregnancies could be increasingly risky. The good news is that there is a lot that women can do to prevent cardiovascular disease.”
Wang, along with Wenzhen Li, MD, of the department of social medicine and health management at Huazhong University of Science and Technology Tongji Medical College, and colleagues analyzed data from 3,089,929 women from 10 studies that assessed parity and CVD risk. Studies included in this meta-analysis had a cohort study design, an exposure of interest of parity number and an outcome of CVD risk.
Researchers also conducted subgroup analyses stratified by geographical location, category of CVD, diabetes, controlling for BMI, cigarette smoking, hypertension, physical activity, income and cholesterol.
Of the women included in the meta-analysis, there were 150,512 incident cases of CVD. When parity was compared with nulliparity, there was a significant association between parity and the risk for CVD (RR = 1.14; 95% CI, 1.09-1.18; I2 = 62%).
A potential nonlinear J-shaped dose-response relationship was observed between the number of parity and CVD risk (summary risk estimates = 1.04; 95% CI, 1.02-1.05; I2 = 89.6%). This association was also seen between parturition number and the risks for CVD, stroke or ischemic heart disease.
Subgroup analyses resulted in similar associations between parity number and the risk for CVD.
“The biological mechanisms that underlie these associations are complex,” Li and colleagues wrote. “Pregnancy could lead to the accumulation of abdominal fat, endothelial dysfunction, atherosclerosis and increased proatherogenic lipid levels and systemic inflammation; these cardiometabolic changes may permanently impact the cardiovascular system, leading to a higher risk of CVD in parous women later in life.” – by Darlene Dobkowski
Disclosures: The study was supported by a project funded by the China Postdoctoral Science Foundation. The authors report no relevant financial disclosures.
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