A non -invasive test identifies women at high risk of preeclampsia for early care. Meanwhile, attention increases on post-parto hypertension.
A simple blood test could identify pregnant women in advance at risk of preeclampsia or gestosisa complication that can be very dangerous for the health of mother and child. The new test, described in an article on Nature Communicationsit is a non -invasive method to play in advance on a condition that often remains silent until the time of childbirth.
Changes in the placenta. Preeclampsia is characterized by an increase in mother’s blood pressure (hypertension) combined with the presence of high quantities of proteins in the urine. It manifests itself starting from the 20th week of pregnancy and is thought to be due to some changes in the placenta and the blood vessels that spray it. If not correctly managed, it can have very serious effects on the future mother, as damage to the organs and cardiovascular problems, and put the development of the fetus at risk.
Preeclampsia concerns about 5-8% of the total pregnancies, but seeking its signs directly in the placenta is very difficult, because the analysis of this organ is carried out with invasive procedures and not free of risks.
What are you looking for? The test, developed by a Californian start-up that deals with health, Mirvie, notes in the maternal blood several subtypes of RNA whose overexpression has already been closely connected to hypertensive disorders in pregnancy in the past, such as preeclampsia. One of these is the placental pappa2 gene that, the researchers write, “strongly predicts the most serious forms of preeclampsia in individuals without high risk factors, months before the appearance of the symptoms, and whose overexpression correlates with a premature birth in a dose-dependent way”.
One in four. The scientists have validated the exam on over 900 pregnant women and have been able to predict with over 99% of accuracy if the future mothers without pre -existing risk factors expressed “critical” genes excessivelyand therefore they were at high risk of preeclampsia or similar diseases. A quarter Participants without other risk factors showed an overexposure of the genes considered dangerous.
Reduce the risk. Once the women at risk is identified, it could be directed towards prevention measures against hypertension, such as following the Mediterranean diet, monitor the pressure daily or assume aspirin (therapy which however ideally should be started from the 16th week, while the test was conducted on patients between 17th and 22nd week of pregnancy).
But the monitoring of diseases related to hypertension around pregnancy must not stop at the time of childbirth.
Prolong the observation. A recently published study in the magazine Jama Network Open which monitored the complications for maternal health in the USA (country where the mortality rates of future mothers or neomamme increased by 18% between 2018 and 2022) shows that almost a third of the deaths occurred Between six weeks and the year after childbirth. That is, in the period in which most of the women who faced a pregnancy are officially believed to be out of the post-parto and “safe”.
A fatigue for the heart. THE Cardiovascular problems Like those linked to hypertensive disorders, the main cause of maternal mortality in the USA both during pregnancy and in the following period were found. Other important causes are cancer, mental health disorders and alcohol abuse or other substances.
Pregnancy can affact the cardiovascular system to aggravate the hypertension where already present. In addition, cardiovascular diseases are increasing among young adults of the age during which gestation is faced. Traditionally, the latest medical supervision of the newlyamous routines is set around the sixth week of childbirth.
