babble » blogs » Strollerderby
Strollerderby
Women With More Children May Have Higher Stroke Risk
Women who deliver several children might be at an increased risk of stroke, says a new study out of Australia.
Previous studies have found that women with more children are at a higher risk of heart attack and stroke than women with fewer children, a phenomenon that can’t always be explained by pregnancy weight gain and changing lifestyle factors.
This new study is not conclusive, but researchers believe that when a woman is pregnant, biological changes mean that more plaque builds up in the neck arteries than usual. More pregnancies means more time for arteries to thicken.
Here are the details of the study:
Researchers studied data from 1,800 participants in a larger study, focusing on those in their 20s, 30s, and 40s who had ultrasounds on their carotid arteries in 2001 and 2007. In each woman, artery thickness increased an average of 7 micrometers per year (men, 9 micrometers). Women’s arteries also thickened an additional 7.5 micrometers for each pregnancy they had during the time period.
Researchers believe that the change may be due to higher blood cholesterol and insulin resistance during pregnancy. But they stress that these finding simply indicate a correlation, not actual cause to believe that pregnancy puts women at a higher risk of cardiovascular disease. But at the same time, it’s just one more reason to maintain a healthy lifestyle before, during, and after pregnancy.
Lori Garcia 
Joslyn Gray 
Amber Doty 
Julianna Miner 
Monica Bielanko 
Sierra Black 
Meredith Carroll 
Carolyn Castiglia 
Sunny Chanel 
Madeline Holler 
Rebecca Odes 
Danielle Smith 
Danielle Sullivan 
Katherine Stone 
The Walt Disney Company supports Babble as a platform dedicated to honest, engaged, informed, intelligent and open conversation about parenting. However, the opinions expressed on this site are those of individual parents/writers and do not reflect the views of Disney. In addition, content provided on this site is for entertainment or informational purposes only and should not be construed as medical advice, diagnosis, treatment, or safety advice.
0