A study has found that women who experience a miscarriage are 20% more likely to die from cardiovascular disease before they turn 70. This statistic is unfortunate as about 12%-24% of pregnancies end in miscarriage or spontaneous abortion.
Data shows that women who suffer miscarriage are more at risk for type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and hypertension. Despite this, studies that correlate early death to spontaneous abortion are inconsistent.
The researchers found that younger women who had suffered one or more miscarriages were at higher risk. They concluded that miscarriages indicated future health issues in these women. However, the team notes that more information is necessary to understand why women who undergo miscarriage have higher health risks and the mechanism behind the phenomena.
How researchers reached their results
The team gathered data on 101,681 female nurses from the U.S who are part of the Nurses’ Health Study II. Their investigation aimed to determine the relationship between miscarriage and the risk of death.
The study took place from 1993 to 2017. Researchers followed these women for about 24 years. They were at a reproductive age when the study began. Researchers quizzed them on their pregnancies and outcomes each second year. They also asked them about any health conditions they had and lifestyle factors.
Data showed that about 25% of the women had had at least one spontaneous abortion. In addition, 2936 of the volunteers had died prematurely. From this figure, 269 had died from cardiovascular disease, while 1346 died from cancer.
Women who’d had multiple miscarriages were more likely to die prematurely
The team compared their death rates with those who hadn’t had miscarriages. They found that women who had their first miscarriage before age 24 and those who had miscarried three or more times had higher death rates. Furthermore, women who had a spontaneous abortion were 19% more likely to suffer from premature death. This figure rose in women who had had many miscarriages.
The researchers also found that some who had experienced spontaneous abortion were 48% more likely to die from cardiovascular disease. They came to this conclusion after accounting for health and lifestyle-related factors that could have been the reason for premature death.
