1 pregnancy and heart risk

[Guest guest]

Hi All,

It was surprising for me to read:

" CONCLUSION: Substantial excess weight gain is associated with both

short pregnancies and a first birth in women overweight prior to

initiation of childbearing. Excess weight gain was not associated

with higher order births. Increases in waist girth were cumulative

with both first and higher order births among overweight as well as

normal weight women. Interventions to prevent obesity should be

targeted at women who are overweight prior to initiation of

childbearing. The impact of excess WC gains associated with

childbearing on women's future health risk should be evaluated

further.

PMID: 14770188 [PubMed - in process] "

and the pdf-available, not in Medline:

" Long-term Plasma Lipid Changes Associated with a First Birth: The

Coronary

Artery Risk Development in Young Adults Study

a P. Gunderson, Cora E. , Maureen A. Murtaugh,

P. Quesenberry, Delia West, and Sidney

Am. J. Epidemiol. 2004 159: 1028-1039.

....fasting plasma lipids (low density lipoprotein, HDL, and total

cholesterol; triglycerides) among 1,952 US women (980 Black, 972

White) in the Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults study.

Repeated-measures multiple linear regression was used to examine

lipid changes over three time intervals (baseline to years 5, 7, and

10) in time-dependent follow-up groups: P0 (0 pregnancies), P1 (1

miscarriages/abortions), B1 (1 birth), and B2 (2 births). Means

stratified by race and baseline parity (nulliparous or parous) were

fully adjusted for study center, time, height, baseline diet, and

other baseline and time-dependent covariates (age, smoking,

education, weight, waist circumference, alcohol intake, oral

contraceptive use, physical activity, short pregnancies). For both

races, fully adjusted HDL cholesterol declines of –3 to –4 mg/dl were

associated with a first birth versus no pregnancies during follow-up

(p < 0.001). Higher-order births were not associated with greater

declines in HDL cholesterol (B2 similar to B1, no association among

women parous at baseline). In Whites, total and low density

lipoprotein cholesterol declines were associated with follow-up

births. HDL cholesterol declines of –3 to –4 mg/dl after a first

birth persisted during the 10 years of follow-up independent of

weight, central adiposity, and selected behavior changes. "

Cheers, Al Pater.