Is failed fertility therapy associated with risk of later cardiac disease?

Credit: © Jakub Krechowicz / Fotolia

"Women who undergo fertility therapy, but do not get pregnant, have a higher risk of developing long-term cardiovascular disease, compared with women who become pregnant, according to a new study published in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal).

"We found that two-thirds of women never became pregnant after being managed for fertility treatment and these women also had worse long-term cardiovascular risk, specifically higher risks of stroke and heart failure, compared with the remaining third of women who did become pregnant and delivered a baby," says Dr. Jacob Udell, lead author of the study, scientist at the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences (ICES) and cardiologist at the Peter Munk Cardiac Centre and Women's College Hospital.

There is a lack of data on the long-term health impacts of fertility therapy, especially in women who do not conceive.

The study looked at data on 28 442 women under age 50 who underwent fertility therapy in Ontario during the study (April 1993 through March 2011). The women were followed until March 31, 2015, for adverse cardiovascular effects. About one-third (9349) gave birth within 1 year of final treatment, while the remaining two-thirds did not give birth.

Fertility therapy failure was associated with a 19% increased risk of adverse cardiovascular events, in particular, heart failure. However, the researchers stress the absolute risk was modest at about 10 events per 1000 women after 10 years for those where fertility therapy failed versus 6 events per 1000 women for those who became pregnant and delivered a child after fertility therapy..."

Read more: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/03/170313085320.htm