Premature Birth Increases The Risk Of Coronary Heart Disease

Premature birth increases the risk of coronary heart disease

Women with a history of preterm birth need to remember about the early prevention of coronary artery disease, scientists say.

Photo: Julia Wilde / Seeker / YouTube

Women with a history of premature birth may be at increased risk of coronary heart disease, a new study has shown. This risk can persist for decades. Scientific work published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

Ischemic heart disease (CHD) is a disease in which the heart does not receive the required amount of blood. It is usually caused by narrowing of the coronary arteries as a result of atherosclerosis. Coronary heart disease usually presents with chest pain during exercise. But with a sharp restriction of blood flow to the heart, myocardial infarction can develop.

Scientists included in the analysis data on more than 2 million births that occurred in Sweden from 1973 to 2015. They found that the diagnosis of coronary heart disease (CHD) during the observation period was made to almost 50 thousand mothers who participated in the study.

It turned out that in mothers who gave birth earlier than 37 weeks, the risk of coronary artery disease was about 2.5 times higher than those who gave birth at 39 or 40 weeks. The likelihood of the disease was significantly (47%) higher in women who gave birth at 37-38 weeks.

According to the calculations of scientists, the increased risk of coronary artery disease after premature birth persists for 43 years.

Additionally, scientists conducted an analysis that included about a million sisters who gave birth to children at different times. It allowed to take into account the influence of genetic risk and environmental factors, which to a certain extent were common to the sisters. This analysis confirmed that preterm birth is a risk factor for CHD.

“Premature birth should be recognized as an independent risk factor for CHD in women. Women with a history of preterm birth should be prevented by influencing other risk factors for this disease - obesity, physical inactivity, smoking. They may need long-term monitoring to diagnose coronary heart disease early,”said Casey Crump, professor at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, professor of the study.