Preeclampsia: 3 Things Women Should Know > News – Yale Medicine

Beyonc, Serena Williams, and Kim Kardashian are just a few of the well-known figures who have experienced preeclampsia, a potentially life-threatening form of hypertension, or high blood pressure, that occurs in pregnancy and postpartum. Preeclampsia can cause a range of complications and should always be treated seriously.

Beyond the celebrities who have brought attention to it, preeclampsia and other types of hypertensive disorders of pregnancy, which include a spectrum of diseases from gestational hypertension to a severe form of preeclampsia called HELLP Syndrome (Hemolysis, Elevated Liver enzymes, and Low Platelets), are on the rise.

These disorders affect more than twice as many non-Hispanic Black women compared to non-Hispanic White women and are significant contributors to the high rate of maternal mortality (death) in the United States. There were 1,205 deaths in 2021, which translates to 32.9 deaths per 100,000 live births, an increase from 861 deaths, or 23.8 per 100,000 live births, in 2020.

Because preeclampsia can occur postpartum, or after delivery, it can have a long-lasting impact on maternal health. Both the American College of Cardiology and the American Heart Association list it as a major risk factor for cardiovascular disease, even far in the future.

In the past, the medical community believed preeclampsia to be a disease of pregnancy that would not necessarily affect a patients future health, says Sarah Goldstein, MD, a Yale Medicine cardiologist and a specialist in cardio-obstetrics. But we now know from many studies that there is a strong association of preeclampsia with a future risk of chronic hypertension, stroke, heart failure, heart attack, and peripheral vascular disease.

Women who have had preeclampsia are at least twice as likely to have heart disease later in life. Cardiovascular disease was responsible for one in five deaths in women in the U.S.more than any other cause, including deaths from all types of cancer combined, in 2021.

We now think of preeclampsia as a red flag or a canary in the coal mine type of diagnosis that should be considered an indication for earlier cardiovascular risk factor assessment, which typically may not be pursued until later in life, Dr. Goldstein says.

Patients diagnosed with preeclampsia would likely benefit from earlier cardiovascular risk factor screening, including cardiometabolic testing, which involves checking cholesterol levels, markers of type 2 diabetes and other diseases, within a year after delivery, she adds.

Below, Yale Medicine physicians talk more about preeclampsia and how it can affect an individuals health during pregnancy and beyond.

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Preeclampsia: 3 Things Women Should Know > News - Yale Medicine