Coronary Heart Disease And Pregnancy: Does Preeclampsia Increase The Risk Of Heart Failure?

Preeclampsia leads to a higher risk of developing heart disease later on in life. In fact, studies indicate that women who had preeclampsia during pregnancy actually have double the risk of dying from heart-related problems such as a heart attack. Women who developed preeclampsia also have a higher risk of suffering a stroke. Unfortunately, the risk for heart disease is even higher if you developed preeclampsia during pregnancy and then miscarried or delivered your baby preterm.

What do you need to know?

What is preeclampsia?

Preeclampsia, which develops in about five to eight percent of all pregnancies, is a disease in which patients have high blood pressure and protein in their urine (which is abnormal). Symptoms of preeclampsia include experiencing headaches and changes in vision.

Despite the fact that most women who develop preeclampsia during pregnancy go back to their normal blood pressure levels within a few months after they have given birth, survivors continue to be at a high risk for heart disease for the rest of their life. The risk is even higher when combined with other known risk factors, including:

• Smoking cigarettes
• Having a poor diet
• Sedentary lifestyle
• Excessive alcohol use

Women who have had preeclampsia need to be particularly careful about their heart health to avoid any complications in the future. This is especially true as you get older, as age is also a major factor when it comes to the risk of heart disease.

Why does preeclampsia lead to a higher risk of heart disease?

The answer to this question is not fully known and scientists are continuing to research this topic.

There are two schools of thought. First, many scientists believe that preeclampsia doesn’t cause heart disease but rather that preeclampsia points to a genetic disposition for both preeclampsia and heart disease. In short, you may have a gene that causes you to develop both diseases. On the other hand, some scientists believe that preeclampsia causes damage to your body, which contributes to a higher risk of developing cardiovascular disease later in life.

Likely, it is a combination of both that causes preeclampsia survivors to develop heart disease. 

Heart disease: Just how high a risk do women who had preeclampsia have?

Studies have shown that women who have experienced preeclampsia have a two-fold higher risk of developing coronary heart disease when compared to women who had uncomplicated pregnancies. Coronary heart disease is a disease in which arteries that supply blood to the heart muscles become blocked with fatty plaques, causing the heart muscles lack oxygen. Eventually, this can lead to a heart attack.

Some studies have also shown a link between preeclampsia and cardiomyopathy, a disease in which the muscles of the heart become larger, thicker, and stiffer. Cardiomyopathy causes the heart to no longer work efficiently, meaning it is unable to adequately pump blood to the rest of the body. Women with preeclampsia have twice the risk of developing cardiomyopathy compared to women who had normal pregnancies.

The good news is that you don't have to panic if you have had preeclampsia. Your absolute risk of developing heart disease is still quite low as long as you follow a heart-healthy lifestyle. While the risks are higher for women who have suffered from preeclampsia, all these risks are relative. Thus, while the risk for developing heart disease is higher for preeclampsia survivors compared to a woman that had a normal pregnancy, the initial risk is still low, particularly when you are young.

For example, about two in a 100 healthy women who have never had preeclampsia will develop heart disease in their thirties. If you had preeclampsia, your risk is double — which means that you have a four percent risk of developing heart disease in your thirties. Therefore, the risk is still quite low.

Now, we need keep in mind that the risk for heart disease increases as we get older. This is particularly true after we hit menopause. In fact, in the United States, about one in every three women die of heart disease. Therefore, doctors encourage women who have hit menopause to try even harder to live a heart healthy lifestyle.

Preeclampsia and other diseases

Besides heart disease, a history of preeclampsia also increases your risk of other diseases, including:

• Hypertension (high blood pressure). Studies have shown that women who develop preeclampsia have a three to four times the risk of developing hypertension compared to women who had uncomplicated pregnancies. Hypertension has been known to develop in preeclampsia survivors as early as five years after giving birth. High blood pressure, over time, can lead to heart disease.
• Stroke, in which blood that goes to a particular part of the brain is blocked off, damaging that region of the brain due to a lack of oxygen. Women who suffered from preeclampsia have a double the risk of developing a stroke.