Carrying a child to term is a miracle of motherhood. A lot of women struggle to get pregnant and carry their babies to term. And now scientists at the University of Queensland found that women with a history of miscarriage and stillbirth have a higher risk of stroke in later life.
A huge new study revealed that women with a history of miscarriage and stillbirth face a higher risk of stroke later in life. Image credit: Jose Navarro via Wikimedia (CC BY 2.0)
There are women who are at an increased risk of miscarriage. In fact, miscarriages are relatively common, especially in the first trimester of pregnancy. Scientists estimate that one in 5 pregnancies (19 %) end in miscarriage, but at the same time less than 5 % of women will experience multiple miscarriages in their lifetime. Every miscarriage is a huge psychological trauma and an undertaking for women and their families. However, some women have to go through more than one miscarriage before a successful pregnancy.
Now scientists analysed data from more than 610,000 women in Australia, China, Japan, Netherlands, Sweden, UK and USA. They found that recurrent pregnancy loss can be linked to increased stroke risk later in life. Furthermore, researchers say that many women do not know that these tragic experiences during pregnancy can be considered as an early alert for the risk of diseases in later life.
Scientists suggest that older women should share their history of miscarriages or stillbirth during regular check-up with general practitioners. This was the first study of this kind with a data pool that big to demonstrate a robust link between stroke and recurrent miscarriage.
This study found that women who had miscarried once had the risk of fatal and non-fatal strokes increased by 7 %, compared to women who hadn’t experienced miscarriage during their pregnancy. Two miscarriages meant a 12 % higher for a non-fatal stroke and 26 % higher risk for a fatal stroke. These numbers were 35 and 82 % accordingly for those who experienced three miscarriages.
Professor Gita Mishra, senior author of the study, said: “For women who are still grieving and processing – this isn’t the time to worry about these findings. But, if you are heading into perimenopause, or if you’re post-menopausal, and have a history of multiple miscarriages or stillbirths, please talk to your GP about managing your health risks. Your doctor might recommend medication, but there are a lot of lifestyle changes you can make to reduce your risk of stroke.”
Miscarriages and stillbirths are terrible things, but also a part of one’s medical history. It should be regarded as a sign of potential other health problems later in life. Women need to keep that in mind and inform their doctors so that they could take appropriate measures to reduce potential fatal risks.
Source: University of Queensland