JERUSALEM, Aug. 26 (Xinhua) -- An Israeli research found that gestational anemia may be a marker for maternal cardiovascular disease and stroke, which was published Sunday by Hebrew-language website "Ynet."
The researchers, from Soroka Medical Center and Ben Gurion University, both located in Israeli southern city of Be'er- Sheva, found that two simple blood tests during pregnancy may reveal cardiovascular disease and stroke up to 25 years before the disease outbreak.
Among the diseases diagnosed in the pregnant patients are heart attacks, angina, heart failure, stroke, renal failure and hypertension with damage to internal organs.
Anemia in pregnancy, defined in the study as a hemoglobin level of less than 10 grams per deciliter, is common.
The team followed about 30,000 women with anemia who gave birth at Soroka hospital between 1988 and 2014. The control group was over 50,000 women who gave birth in those years and did not suffer from anemia.
In women with anemia, cardiovascular disease was 1.5 times higher than in women without anemia. The rate of hospitalization for cardiovascular disease was 4.35 percent for women with gestational anemia, compared to 3.7 percent for the control group.
The high risk of cardiovascular disease was significant even after neutralizing factors that might bias outcomes such as smoking, obesity, and hypertension disorders.
The results of the study reinforce the need for use of iron products, not necessarily for immediate results but also for long-term complications. The researchers also recommend women with a longer-term follow-up anemia to prevent recurrence of heart and blood vessel diseases.
The researchers also showed that high renal function at the end of pregnancy indicated a 1.5-fold increased risk of cardiovascular disease.
Among the blood tests found to be associated with a high risk of morbidity were creatinine and urea levels, a measure of kidney function, and potassium levels.
