Contents:
- Medical Video: High Blood Pressure Symptoms: Emergency Symptoms, Treatments, and More
- Stroke during pregnancy and after pregnancy
- High blood pressure during pregnancy and continues after childbirth
Medical Video: High Blood Pressure Symptoms: Emergency Symptoms, Treatments, and More
Stroke during pregnancy and after childbirth has increased at an alarming stage.
Experts compare the rate of stroke during pregnancy, during childbirth, and after childbirth. They use a national database that includes information from 1,000 hospitals. The researchers then compared the rate of stroke related to pregnancy in 1994-1995 and 2006-2007.
From this study found an increase of about 50% in all types of strokes. Stroke associated with pregnancy reached around 4,000 cases in 1994-1995, or around 2,000 cases each year. In 2006-2007, there were around 6,000 stroke cases, or around 3,000 cases per year. The number of births in these two periods is comparable. The cause is none other than an increase in high blood pressure, including other factors.
Stroke during pregnancy and after pregnancy
The researchers also examined three different time periods separately, namely during pregnancy, during childbirth, and shortly after giving birth. Compared to the previous year, the researchers found an increase of 47% in stroke during pregnancy and 83% after giving birth. There was no increase in the number of strokes during labor. Young pregnant women aged between 25-34 years are more likely to have a stroke. In short, the current female population is more vulnerable to stroke compared to 10 years ago.
The researchers also pay attention to all types of strokes, including strokes caused by blood clots and lack of blood flow. They also studied mild strokes or the so-called Transient Ischemic Attack (TIA), which is a warning about a stroke.
In 2006-2007, more women were hospitalized due to stroke due to high blood pressure compared to the initial period of the study. In short, almost 41% of women who experience a stroke after giving birth have high blood pressure. High blood pressure can increase the risk of stroke related to pregnancy by about six times. Meanwhile, heart disease will increase the risk of stroke by up to 10 times.
High blood pressure during pregnancy and continues after childbirth
Other factors can also contribute to an increased risk of stroke, such as obesity, lack of physical activity, diabetes, and blood clotting disorders. The problem seems to be increasingly complicated because of the lack of knowledge about how to deal with stroke and high blood pressure during pregnancy. There is no specific concern to help women with high blood pressure who are still living even after giving birth. Therefore, women must consider lifestyle before deciding to get pregnant. Consider the matter of maintaining a healthy body weight and quitting smoking.
Other steps include regular physical activity, consumption of a healthy diet, control of blood sugar and cholesterol, and management of sugar levels.
Risks that must be known to pregnant women
Researchers have also studied strokes related to pregnancy. They analyzed the same data from 2000-2001 and they noted several differences in stroke conditions with the current study. Similarly the researchers compared the same conditions for both periods.
Other studies also found that migraines are associated with stroke. Research is not based on ethnicity, and that is its limitation. They found that African-American races were more associated with the risk of stroke during pregnancy.
Pregnant women must know the risk factors and understand the importance of a healthy lifestyle. It is equally important for young women to realize this as older women, especially because of high blood pressure, diabetes, and obesity, are now starting to occur at a younger age.
