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Undetected high blood pressure found in new mums

By: Admin on February 05, 2018 / comment : 0

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Women with severe pre-eclampsia should have their blood pressure closely monitored for a year after giving birth because high blood pressure can remain undetected, a new study suggests.
It found high blood pressure "often goes unnoticed because women may have normal blood pressure readings" in the doctor's surgery.
The Dutch study of 200 women found 17.5% had masked hypertension.
Their blood pressure was much higher when it was monitored at home.
The study found if only the in-clinic readings were used, doctors would have missed 56% of the women with high blood pressure.
The study also found that 46% of the women had an insufficient decrease in blood pressure from daytime to night time, which is unhealthy.
Night-time hypertension, which increases the risk of heart disease, stroke and death, affected 42.5% of women in the study.
Study author Laura Benschop, MD, a researcher in obstetrics and gynaecology at Erasmus Medical Centre, Rotterdam, said:
"Our findings suggest women who have high blood pressure during pregnancy should continue to monitor their blood pressure long after they've delivered their babies. It's not only important to monitor blood pressure in the doctor's office, but also at different times of the day and night, at home.
"We've shown here that high blood pressure comes in many forms after pregnancy. Women who know their numbers can take the proper steps to lower their blood pressure and avoid the health consequences of high blood pressure later in life."

'Shocking' reading

Katharine Jenner, from the charity Blood Pressure UK, said the study was "shocking" reading because it was well established that women with pre-eclampsia are more likely to have high blood pressure post-pregnancy.
"So the fact that over half of cases are being missed just a year after giving birth is quite shocking, as we know GPs are looking out for it.
"The results of this small study should encourage all women who have had pre-eclampsia to help out their GP by using a blood pressure monitor at home and trying to gauge a true reflection of their blood pressure."
Dr Philip Lewis who runs a maternity blood pressure clinic at Stockport NHS Foundation Trust said it was a "very significant" and "important" study.
A member of the British and Irish Hypertension Society, he hopes to immediately introduce 24-hour blood pressure monitoring for women in his clinic, a year after giving birth.
He says the study shows that if "you just measure in a clinic you may be falsely reassured".
"Masked hypertension is the most dangerous of all as you've been reassured all is well so you don't bother to do anything about it and nor does anyone else because you don't think your blood pressure is there."
But he said it was actually producing a strain on the heart and blood vessels which women could pay a price for later on.
"The ultimate bottom line is if everybody who has severe pre-eclampsia would have a 24-hour blood pressure test a year later, a lot of the risk might be identified for the future and, if dealt with appropriately, prevent it."

What is pre-eclampsia?

  • Pre-eclampsia is a disorder which appears in the late stages of pregnancy and is characterised by high blood pressure and excess protein in the urine.
  • Mild pre-eclampsia affects up to 6% of pregnancies, and severe cases develop in about 1-2% of pregnancies.
  • Although many cases are mild, the condition can lead to serious complications for both mother and baby if it's not monitored and treated.
  • It's the leading cause of mother and child death worldwide, so treatment and monitoring is vital to avoid serious complications.
  • The only way to cure pre-eclampsia is to deliver the baby, so you'll usually be monitored regularly until it's possible for your baby to be delivered.
Prof Basky Thilaganathan, consultant obstetrician and spokesperson for the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists said more tests in larger groups of women, who didn't all have high blood pressure before pregnancy, were needed to confirm the findings.
Christopher Allen, senior cardiac nurse at the British Heart Foundation, said: "Although guidance is already in place, it's possible that the way we screen for high blood pressure in these women could be improved.
"Anyone who has been diagnosed with pre-eclampsia during their pregnancy should be followed up by their GP to keep an eye on their blood pressure."

One cigarette a day 'increases heart disease and stroke risk'

By: Admin on January 28, 2018 / comment : 0

Smokers need to quit cigarettes rather than cut back on them to significantly lower their risk of heart disease and stroke, a large BMJ study suggests.
People who smoked even one cigarette a day were still about 50% more likely to develop heart disease and 30% more likely to have a stroke than people who had never smoked, researchers said.
They said it showed there was no safe level of smoking for such diseases.
But an expert said people who cut down were more likely to stop.
  • Why young people are now less likely to smoke
  • Quit smoking campaign backs e-cigs
  • 'One smoke leads to daily habit for most'

'Stop completely'

Cardiovascular disease, not cancer, is the greatest mortality risk for smoking, causing about 48% of smoking-related premature deaths.
While the percentage of adults in the UK who smoked had been falling, the proportion of people who smoked one to five cigarettes a day had been rising steadily, researchers said.
Their analysis of 141 studies, published in the BMJ, indicates a 20-a-day habit would cause seven heart attacks or strokes in a group of 100 middle-aged people.
But if they drastically cut back to one a day it would still cause three heart attacks, the research suggests.
The researchers said men who smoked one cigarette a day had about a 48% higher risk of developing coronary heart disease and were 25% more likely to have a stroke than those who had never smoked.
For women, it was higher - 57% for heart disease and 31% for stroke.
Prof Allan Hackshaw at the UCL Cancer Institute at University College London, who led the study, told the BBC: "There's been a trend in quite a few countries for heavy smokers to cut down, thinking that's perfectly fine, which is the case for things like cancer.
"But for these two common disorders, which they're probably more likely to get than cancer, it's not the case. They've got to stop completely."

The researchers said it might be expected that smoking fewer cigarettes would reduce harm in a proportionate way as had been shown in some studies with lung cancer.
However, they found that men who smoked one cigarette per day had 46% of the excess risk of heart disease and 41% for stroke compared with those who smoked 20 cigarettes per day.
For women it was 31% of the excess risk of heart disease and 34% for stroke.
Prof Hackshaw said the increased risks of cardiovascular illness were over the course of a lifetime but damage could be done in just a few years of smoking.
But he said the good news was that those who quit smoking could also quickly reduce their risk of cardiovascular disease.

Cutting down not 'useless'

Paul Aveyard, professor of behavioural medicine at the University of Oxford, said the "well conducted" study confirmed what epidemiologists had suspected - that light smoking created a "substantial risk for heart disease and stroke".
But he said it was wrong to conclude cutting down smoking was useless.
"Those who try to cut down with the aid of nicotine, whether from nicotine replacement treatment or an e-cigarette, are more likely to stop eventually and thus really reduce their risks from smoking," he said.
Martin Dockrell, tobacco lead at Public Health England, said: "This study adds to the growing body of evidence which tells us that cutting down to just one cigarette a day still leaves a substantial risk of heart attack and stroke. The best and safest thing you can do is to quit completely for good."
Deborah Arnott, chief executive of health charity ASH, said: "It's addiction to nicotine that keeps people smoking but it's the tar in cigarette smoke that does the serious damage.
"Vaping is much less harmful, but only if you quit smoking altogether."
Simon Clark, director of the smokers' group Forest, said discouraging people from cutting down smoking could be "counter-productive".
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