Hypertension During Pregnancy Linked to Later Development of Neurological Disorders in Mothers: Study

Women diagnosed with eclampsia during pregnancy have a five times greater risk of developing epilepsy later in life, researchers have found.

Hypertensive disorders during pregnancy have been associated with an increased risk of developing various adult-onset neurological conditions in mothers, even years after childbirth.

Pregnancy-related hypertensive disorders, such as gestational hypertension, preeclampsia and eclampsia have been linked for decades to numerous complications, including low birth weight and premature birth. They can also lead to cardiovascular disorders for the mother later in life.

In a study published in the journal JAMA Neurology on December 23, a team of international researchers determined that years after giving birth, mothers suffering from hypertension during pregnancy are also more likely to develop adult-onset neurological disorders, such as epilepsy, mental fatigue and migraines.

The study, led by Dr. Therese Friis of Uppsala University in Sweden, analyzed data from 648,385 mothers recorded in the Swedish Medical Birth Register between 2005 and 2018.

Follow-up data were obtained from the National Patient Register, starting 42 days after delivery and continuing until the first occurrence of a neurological event, death, emigration, or the end of the follow-up period in 2019. To ensure accuracy, women with pre-existing chronic hypertension or neurological disorders prior to pregnancy were excluded from the study.

It was discovered that women with gestational hypertension had a 1.27 times greater risk of developing a neurological disorder later in life, while women with preeclampsia had a 1.32 times greater risk, and women with eclampsia had a 1.70 times greater risk.

With regard to individual outcomes, the greatest risk was for women with eclampsia, who had a five times greater risk of developing epilepsy than women who were never diagnosed with the hypertensive disorder.

The researchers concluded that, based on these findings, women with pregnancy-related hypertensive disorders should be monitored not only for cardiovascular disease during follow-up care but also for the emergence of neurological symptoms. These may include migraines, sleep disorders, mental fatigue, and epilepsy, highlighting the need for comprehensive post-pregnancy screening.

Pregnancy and Hypertension

Data published by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) indicates that nearly one in seven women who give birth in a hospital in the United States have developed some form of hypertensive disorder during pregnancy.

However, despite recent studies indicating that the number of women who develop hypertension during pregnancy has doubled in recent years, only about six out of every ten of those women are treated with medication. This is due mainly to concerns about the risks of side effects linked to the prescription drugs.

Hypertension is a leading cause of pregnancy-related deaths in the U.S., accounting for roughly 30% of all fatalities during delivery. It is also a leading contributor to why the maternal death rate in the U.S. is the highest of any wealthy nation in the world.