早产可能会给母亲带来长期中风的风险

It's not surprising that babies born prematurely may face more health issues than those who were carried to term.

但新的研究表明，同样的情况也适用于他们的母亲.

A study published Monday in the 美国心脏协会 journal 循环 showed women who delivered babies preterm had a higher risk of having a stroke. 我不确定是否有很多人意识到这一点. 凯西·克伦普领导了这项研究.

足月妊娠持续约40周. 早于37周的出生被认为是早产. Crump said previous smaller studies had suggested an association between preterm deliveries and stroke, 还有高血压, 中风的主要危险因素, 这激发了我们进一步研究的兴趣."

So, 研究人员以瑞典为例, where a universal health care system "facilitates a really great collection of data,克伦普说, a professor of family medicine and epidemiology at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City.

结果是一项研究近2.2 million women who gave birth between 1973 and 2015, and diagnoses of stroke during the same years. 到研究结束时，36372名参与者——或1.7%的人中风.

即使考虑到吸烟等其他风险因素, 肥胖和糖尿病, the frequency of stroke was 42% higher among women with preterm deliveries compared with full-term. And the earlier in pregnancy the birth occurred, the greater the risk.

这些风险在分娩后的10年里是最高的, 但它们在40年后依然存在,克朗普说。. "The most surprising thing for us was that these risks persist for so long."

根据 疾病控制和预防中心在美国，每10个新生儿中就有1个.S. 是早产. Stroke, which occurs when the brain is deprived of blood and oxygen, affects an estimated 美国有79.5万人.S. 每年. Crump said the study's findings apply both to ischemic stroke, when a blockage obstructs an artery carrying blood to the brain, 出血性中风, 当大脑中的血管破裂时.

“这是一项极具影响力的研究。. Amytis Towfighi, associate professor of neurology at Keck School of Medicine at the University of California, 洛杉矶. 她没有参与这项新研究. "It's the largest cohort study to date looking at the association between preterm delivery and stroke, 而且设计得很好."

What the study doesn't do, Towfighi said, "is answer the question of why. It might have to do with inflammation or hypercoagulability (the tendency to form blood clots). 但我们仍然不知道其中的因果机制."

Crump said he hopes researchers will follow up with more studies to figure out those answers. "This also needs to be replicated in other places and populations, to look at whether this varies in other racial and ethnic groups."

与此同时, 然而, both doctors agree women who had preterm births and their clinicians should heed the warning about the increased risk of stroke long-term.

Towfighi said doctors "can counsel them to ensure they eat a healthy diet, 参加体育活动, abstain from smoking and get regular checkups to screen for high blood pressure, 糖尿病和高胆固醇, 这样就可以开始使用预防性药物了, 如果表示, 降低中风的风险."

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