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"Experiencing multiple pregnancies increases a woman's risk of developing atrial fibrillation later in life, according to new research in the American Heart Association's journal Circulation, which includes the inaugural Go Red for Women issue.
Atrial fibrillation is an irregular heartbeat that can lead to blood clots, stroke, heart failure and other heart-related complications.
In this first analysis to investigate a link between number of pregnancies and atrial fibrillation, researchers led by Jorge A. Wong, M.D., MPH, at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, and Christine M. Albert, M.D., MPH, at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, analyzed data from 34,639 participants from the Women's Health Study. Study participants were a median age of 53, had a median of two prior pregnancies and were healthy at the start of the study. They completed annual questionnaires and observational follow-ups. After an average 20 years of follow up, 1,532 atrial fibrillation cases had occurred.
"We found that an increase in the number of pregnancies was associated with a higher risk of future atrial fibrillation," Wong said. "For example, women with four or more pregnancies were approximately 30 percent to 50 percent more likely to develop atrial fibrillation compared to women with no pregnancies."
Researchers speculate that the repeated exposure to physiological, metabolic or hormonal factors during pregnancy could explain the link..."
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