World Heart Day - the link between pregnancy complications and heart health

[Kaz747]

Being World Heart Day, I decided to record a video and tell my story to raise awareness about the link between pregnancy complications and heart problems. I shared this on the AF Association page and it was suggested that it would be good to share it with a wider audience.

Pregnancy is the ultimate stress test for a woman's body. If you had hypertension, pre-eclampsia or other issues during your pregnancy, keep a close eye on your heart health as research has shown a definite link between pregnancy complications and an increased risk of hypertension, stroke and heart problems later in life.

youtu.be/M0ThmpZ-JiI(Not working as expected?)

[jos64]

Hi nearly 2 years ago I had a Stemi heart attack, when I was 64. Doctors said it was just random as I have never smoked, hardly drink and my cholesterol and BMI were ok. On my discharge summary preeclampsia was mentioned. Over 43 years ago now I had preeclampsia during my first pregnancy and my daughter was induced 3 weeks early and I remember having to lie flat and not move for a while after the birth. I have since read that women who have had preeclampsia are twice as likely to suffer a HA after the menopause. I would add that I have always had a heart murmur but was told that it was nothing to worry about. I also had some chest pains in the couple of years preceding my HA but told I didnt have enough "points" to need statins. I was wondering if you know if it is "chicken or egg" I.e. did the preeclampsia suggest I had heart weakness or did it cause the problem?? Thanks and best wishes for good health

[Kaz747 in reply to jos64]

Interesting isn’t it? My understanding is that researchers don’t know if pregnancy causes changes that affect the heart later or whether there is something there that the pregnancy unmasks. It is very much a chicken and egg situation.