Motherhood during teenage years increases risk of heart diseases

According to a new research, issued in the Journal of the American Heart Association, women, who give birth to children during their teenage years are more likely to suffer from heart diseases in their later life in comparison to their older counterparts.

For the research, the information was obtained from women, aged 65-74, from various places like Albania, Canada, and Brazil. Around 1,000 women participated in the study. The study showed that women, who gave birth before the age of 20, reported quite high on Framingham risk score – a scale to estimate cardiovascular risk. Whereas, women, who do not give birth are at least cardiovascular risk. Also, women, who gave birth at older ages, had lower risk scores.

The study author, Catherine Pirkle, Ph.D., said that mothers in their adolescent years should take care of their lifestyle and maintain healthy body weight. Physical activity should not be ignored at any point. Doctors should pay more attention to reproductive characteristics of women. Moreover, the cardiovascular risk may be screened intensively for child-bearing women.

The research indicated that women, who delivered more babies had more risk of cardiovascular diseases. Women, who terminated their pregnancies or suffered miscarriage got lower average results on Framingham risk score since they had less pregnancy-related stress. This explains lower scores.

The study results demand future research as the findings are based on self-reports that may be affected by memory loss in older populations. Many young mothers, who gave birth in their teenage years might have already died by the age of 65. These are the limitations of this study.

In a nutshell, the findings emphasize the need to impart sufficient sexual knowledge and availability of contraception to avoid childbirth during adolescent years. More support must be provided to young mothers, especially if they have less education and poor health.

Source: sciencedaily.com