Moms-to-be could reduce child’s risk of heart disease before they’re born

By Mark Waghorn via SWNS

Moms-to-be can reduce a child's risk of heart disease - before they're even born, according to new research.

Eating healthily and getting plenty of exercises protects future offspring against the world's number one killer, say scientists.

Women planning to start a family should stick to simple rules dubbed Life's Essential 8, say scientists.

They also include not smoking, maintaining normal weight, blood pressure, cholesterol and glucose levels and getting plenty of sleep.

Using the guidelines found only one in five children and adults in the U.S. have optimal cardiovascular health.

Lead author Dr. Sadiya Khan, of Northwestern University in Chicago, said: "The biological processes that contribute to adverse pregnancy outcomes begin before a person is pregnant.

"Therefore, it is necessary to focus on optimizing cardiovascular health before pregnancy. The data indicate cardiovascular health has an intergenerational relationship.

"The time prior to pregnancy is a critical life stage that affects the health of the person who becomes pregnant, and the children born to them."

She is writing committee chair of the American Heart Association's scientific statement that summarizes the "intergenerational impact of pre-pregnancy."

A woman's heart health - including the physical, environmental and cognitive experiences in childhood and young adulthood - is connected to that of the children born to her.

It opens the door to public health interventions that stop premature births, gestational diabetes, high blood pressure, pre-eclampsia or infants small for gestational age.

The pregnancy complications are also linked to higher risk for cardiovascular disease among the offspring, reports the study in Circulation.

Being born preterm raises the risk of heart disease by the age of 43 by more than half (53 percent).

Having type 2 diabetes, the form linked to unhealthy lifestyles, before becoming pregnant is associated with a 39 percent higher risk of cardiovascular disease among offspring at the age of 40.

Dr. Khan said: "If a research trial focused on cardiovascular health before pregnancy successfully reduced pregnancy complications and improved the mother's and child's cardiovascular health, it could be practice-changing."

Studies to address the research gap need to include people from diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds who are underrepresented - and among whom incidence is disproportionately higher.

They should also investigate lifestyle changes like heart-healthy diet and physical activity in pregnant individuals, as well as strategies with medications known to be safe. Psychological health, stress and resilience need consideration, too.

Dr. Khan said: "There is substantial opportunity to improve health across the life course and for multiple generations by improving pre-pregnancy cardiovascular health.

"However, the responsibility is one that should be embraced by all of us, not placed solely on individual women.

"The pre-pregnancy period offers a unique window of opportunity to equitably address the increased incidence of adverse pregnancy outcomes, and to interrupt and improve the intergenerational relationship of poor cardiovascular health by focusing on individual, community and policy-level solutions."

Heart and circulatory diseases kill more than 160,000 Britons each year. Globally they claim around 18 million lives annually.