New York, March 24
Women who give birth to
four or more children are at higher risk of developing cardiovascular
diseases than women who have fewer children, says Indian-American
researcher Monika Sanghavi from University of Texas's Southwestern
Medical Center in Dallas.
"This study adds to a body of evidence
that pregnancy, which generally occurs early in a woman's life, can
provide insight into a woman's future cardiovascular risk," informed
Sanghavi, assistant professor of internal medicine and lead author of
the study.
One possibility might be that women who have many
pregnancies may have more visceral fat (fat around abdominal organs).
This has been linked to increased heart disease risk.
Another
possibility could be that increased cholesterol and higher blood sugar
associated with pregnancy may lead to increased risk.
"During
pregnancy, a woman's abdominal size increases, she has higher levels of
lipids in her blood, and higher blood sugar levels. Each pregnancy
increases this exposure," Sanghavi noted.
Using data gathered for
the Dallas Heart Study, Sanghavi and her team compared the number of
live births reported by women in the study with their coronary artery
calcium (CAC) levels and aortic wall thickness (AWT).
High levels
of coronary artery calcification and thicker aortic walls are markers
of heart disease that show up before symptoms develop. Women were
divided into three groups: One or no live births, two to three live
births, and four or more live births.
Women who reported four or
more live births had a 27 percent prevalence of a high calcium score
compared with 11 percent among those with two to three live births.
The trend was similar when looking at AWT measurements.
"The
associations were not affected by adjusting for socio-economic status
or traditional cardiovascular risk factors, suggesting that
physiological changes associated with pregnancy may account for the
change," Sanghavi explained.
"We are learning that there are
numerous physiologic changes during pregnancy that have consequences for
future heart health," said senior author Amit Khera, associate
professor of internal medicine.
This study reminds us of the importance of taking a pregnancy history as part of cardiovascular disease screening, he concluded.
After
receiving her undergraduate degree in bioengineering from Oregon State
University, Sanghavi attended medical school at Oregon Health and
Science University.
She completed her residency in internal
medicine at Northwestern Memorial Hospital and received advanced
training in cardiology through a fellowship at UT Southwestern, where
she was chief cardiology fellow.
Sanghavi is a member of the
American Society of Preventive Cardiology, the Texas Medical
Association, the American Heart Association, and the American College of
Cardiology. In 2013, she was presented the American Heart Association
Women in Cardiology Trainee Award for Excellence.
