JIM: fertility therapy doubles women's risk of disease

Women who have undergone fertility treatment are twice as likely to be hospitalised for heart disease in the year after giving birth compared to those who became pregnant naturally. This was the conclusion reached by researchers from Rutgers Health (a clinical unit of Rutgers University in the US). The results of the study were published in the Journal of Internal Medicine (JIM).

Scientists analysed health data from more than 31 million women who became mothers between 2010 and 2018. Among them, the researchers identified 287,813 subjects who had previously undergone fertility therapy. Participants in this group were found to be more than twice as likely to be hospitalised with heart disease in the year after giving birth than women who became pregnant naturally. In particular, those treated for infertility were 2.16 times more likely to be hospitalised with severe hypertension.

However, the researchers noted that overall, despite the increased risk, the overall incidence of postpartum heart disease remains low because of the relatively young age of the infertility therapy patients. Further research is needed to see if hospitalisations are related to treatment modalities and the women's initially present health characteristics.

Follow NEWS.am Medicine on Facebook and Twitter