Preeclampsia and high blood pressure in pregnancy can follow women over the years and lead to lower scores on tests of memory and thinking skills, a Dutch study suggests. The research on nearly 600 pregnant women included 481 with normal blood pressure and 115 who developed hypertension during their pregnancy.
Study results on high blood pressure during pregnancy
So of these 115 women, 70% had gestational hypertension. This means a highBlood pressure in women, which begins after 20 weeks of pregnancy, which previously had normal readings. The other 30% had preeclampsia, a pregnancy complication characterized by high blood pressure and elevated protein levels in the urine. Such a condition also develops after 20 weeks of pregnancy. Such cases should be closely monitored, according to the study authors.
So these pregnant women and their doctors shouldLifestyle changesand consider other treatments. This can help reduce the risk of cognitive decline during this time. Additionally, this will ensure that their thinking and memory skills are not affected later in life. The research team tested study participants after 15 years and asked them to recall a list of 15 words immediately and then again after 20 minutes.
In the immediate recall test, women who had no problems with it 15 years previously scored an average of 28 out of 45 possible points. Those who had high blood pressure in pregnancy scored an average of 25. However, researchers found no differences between the two groups on tests of fine motor skills, verbal fluency, processing speed and visuospatial ability.This studydoes not show a cause-and-effect relationship between high blood pressure and test results, but only a connection, according to the authors. It is important to consider gestational hypertension and preeclampsia, which are specific to women, as risk factors for cognitive impairment. Many women may view this as a temporary problem during pregnancy. They don't realize that it could potentially have lasting effects.
