Link found between spontaneous abortion and heart disease
Link found between spontaneous abortion and heart disease
BMJ-British Medical Journal — For the first time, a specific link has been found between spontaneous abortion and risk of heart disease in later life, according to researchers in this week’s BMJ.
The team analysed national data on births in Scotland during 1981-5 and deaths or hospital admissions due to ischaemic heart disease (IHD) during 1981-99.
They found that women with a history of spontaneous loss of early pregnancy were at increased risk of IHD. By contrast, there was no association between therapeutic abortion and subsequent risk of IHD.
To our knowledge, this is the first study to show a specific association between spontaneous abortion and maternal risk of IHD, say the authors.
However, further studies are required to corroborate these findings and confirm that the association is independent of smoking and other factors, such as maternal disease (for example, diabetes and polycystic ovarian syndrome), they conclude.
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