The Journal of Internal Medicine published the work.
According to a significant study, those receiving infertility treatments have a double higher chance of being admitted to the hospital after giving birth due to heart problems than people who conceive naturally.
Rutgers health experts in New Jersey conducted a study that drew upon more than 31 million hospital records.
However, it was discovered that the probability of hospitalisation varied with age. That is, people with infertility who were older had a higher chance of being admitted to the hospital for heart illness.
In depth
According to the study, patients who had infertility had a 2.16-fold increased risk of being hospitalised for hypertension, or dangerously high blood pressure, compared to those who conceived naturally. All patients should have postpartum examinations, but this study suggests that those undergoing infertility treatment to become pregnant should prioritise them over all others.
The study’s authors state that the findings are consistent with current medical guidelines, which include a postpartum examination three weeks following delivery. Nevertheless, many regions of the world have not yet adopted these norms.
A significant portion of the elevated risk occurred in the first month following birth, particularly in those patients whose blood pressure dangerously elevated.
Take away
The study’s principal author, Cande Ananth of Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, added that there are other findings that support the need for early follow-up. Researchers speculated that the increased risk of heart disease could be due to an adverse reaction to fertility treatments or could be a reflection of the underlying medical conditions that caused the patients to become infertile in the first place.
The researchers noted that although using reproductive therapy was associated with a markedly increased risk of heart disease, these women’s relative young maintained their total risk relatively modest.
Over the past few years, we have been involved in a number of studies that have identified significant risks of stroke and heart disease in a variety of high-risk patient categories during the first 30 days following delivery—risks that may be reduced with earlier follow-up care.
From 2010 to 2018, the researchers analysed data from almost 31 million patients who were released from hospitals after giving birth.