Preeclampsia is associated with nearly 3-6 percent of all pregnancies. A latest study reveals that the disease has seen a 1.5 to 2 fold increase the U.S. recently.
Preeclampsia is a medical condition in pregnant women , which results in high blood pressure and shows a high percentage of protein in urine. It leads to many complications like pre-term births, affects the development of the fetus, placental abruption, still birth and also affects the kidneys and nervous system of the mother, according to a medical express report. It can prove fatal in some cases.
The high blood pressure restricts the flow of blood to the placenta and the fetus fails to receive enough food and oxygen.
The study was conducted by researchers from the Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University Medical Center.
Researchers followed up on more than 120 million births in the U.S. between 1980 and 2010. The researchers derived their case studies from the national hospital discharge surveys conducted in the last three decades in U.S.
The preeclampsia cases increased around 0.4 percent in the last three decades. The results apparently seem to be too negligible but if the findings are studied minutely it reveals a larger concern. The severe preeclampsia cases rose from 0.3 percent to 1.4 in between 1980 and 2010 showing an increase of more than 322 percent. And mild preeclampsia cases went down from 3.1 to 2.5 during the same period. The researchers are focusing on the rise of severe preeclampsia cases in recent years. The study was published in the latest issue of the British Medical Journal.
According to the researchers, the rise in preeclampsia cases is largely due to the unhealthy food habits in the Americans. Quitting smoking reduces the chances of preeclampsia. Earlier studies have proved that preeclampsia is hereditary and parents carrying the disease pass it on to the children.
Older pregnancies and rise in multiple births also increase the chances of preeclampsia. Preeclampsia is also commonly noticed among women suffering from hypertension, diabetes and kidney related problems, reports ABC News.
If preeclampsia is not treated in time it leads to epileptic seizures (nervous problems) that can prove fatal for the mother.