Xinhua News Agency, Sydney, March 15 (Liu Shiyue) A study released by the University of Western Australia recently found an association between fetal growth retardation in the womb and the risk of elevated blood pressure in adulthood . A related paper was published in the American Journal of Hypertension.
The research team used data collected by the Wren Institute at the University of Western Australia to examine ultrasound findings of 1,440 fetuses at various stages of development between their mothers’ 15th week of gestation and about to give birth, as well as 680 of the fetuses who had grown to adulthood. The blood pressure data after one year were compared and analyzed.
The study found that after comprehensively considering and adjusting for factors such as gender, age, and body mass index (BMI), the development of fetuses’ abdominal circumference and head circumference before birth was significantly different from that after they entered adulthood. Blood pressure values were significantly associated. People with stunted or below-normal abdominal and head circumferences during fetal life had an average systolic blood pressure that was 3.5 mm Hg higher than the average person in adulthood. Population studies have shown that an increase in blood pressure of 3.5 mm Hg in adults is associated with a 6 to 10 percent higher risk of death from heart disease and about a 10 percent higher risk of stroke.
This study also shows that mothers suffering from high blood pressure, gestational diabetes and other diseases during pregnancy, or having bad habits such as smoking, will also affect the growth of the fetus and increase the risk of cardiovascular disease in adults. possibility of disease.
The study highlights the importance of risk screening during pregnancy, to identify those that may affect the fetus after birth as early as possible health risk factors, timely medical intervention or health management advice for mothers to reduce the likelihood of children developing cardiovascular disease in the future. (End)