Pregnant women who suffer from pre-eclampsia ‘are FIVE TIMES more likely to develop kidney failure’
- Study of over 1 million women found pre-eclampsia raises the risk by 4.96 times
- Both conditions linked to the break down of cells that line inside of blood vessels
- A mysterious genetic mutation may also increase the risk of both disorders
Pregnant women who suffer from pre-eclampsia are more likely to develop kidney failure, research suggests.
Data of 1.3million women showed mothers-to-be who battle the complication are 4.96 times more likely to have end-stage kidney disease in later life.
The scientists at the University College Cork, who led the study, admitted they are currently unclear on why the link exists.
But they noted both conditions are linked to the breakdown of cells that line the inside of blood vessels. A genetic mutation may also be to blame.
Pregnant women with pre-eclampsia are five times more at risk of kidney failure (stock)
Pre-eclampsia is a pregnancy complication that causes high blood pressure and protein in the urine.
It affects up to six per cent of pregnancies in the UK, according to the charity Tommy’s.
And in the US, between five and eight per cent of expectant mothers develop the disorder, Preeclampsia Foundation statistics show.
The condition, which can be deadly for both a mother and child, can only be cured by delivering the baby. Sufferers have to be closely monitored until it is safe to do so.
Kidney failure is the last stage of chronic renal disease. It occurs when the kidneys stop working well enough for a patient to survive without dialysis or a transplant.
Around 61,000 people are being treated for kidney failure in the UK, Kidney Care UK statistics show.
And more than 660,000 Americans have the condition, according to the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases.
Kidney disease is on the rise worldwide, the researchers wrote in the journal PLOS Medicine.
Early symptoms, such as swollen ankles, blood in the urine and itchy skin, are more common in women than men.
This has led scientists to speculate whether pregnancy is involved. To uncover this, the researchers analysed data from the Swedish Medical Birth Register.
They looked at more than 1.3 million women who collectively gave birth over 2.6 million times between 1982 and 2012.
Pre-eclampsia was recorded at the time the women were discharged from hospital. They were then followed for up to 30 years.
Results revealed the women who had pre-eclampsia in at least one pregnancy were almost five times more likely to develop kidney failure in later life.
And those who had two pregnancies complicated by pre-eclampsia were over seven times more at risk.
This occurred regardless of the women’s age, or whether they had kidney or heart disease before they conceived.
The researchers estimate pre-eclampsia is responsible for 14 per cent of all kidney-failure cases that affect mothers.
‘Pre-eclampsia is a sex-specific, independent risk factor for the subsequent development of ESKD,’ the authors, led by Dr Ali Kashan, wrote.
Pre-eclampsia has been liked to a loss of specialised cells in the glomerulus. This is a cluster of capillaries in the kidneys that filter blood to produce urine.
This cell loss is not replenished following pregnancy and may increase a woman’s kidney failure risk, the researchers wrote.
They stressed, however, ‘the overall ESKD risk remains small’.
‘Whether screening or preventative strategies will reduce the risk of ESKD in women with adverse pregnancy outcomes is worthy of further investigation,’ the researchers wrote.
Kim Kardashian developed pre-eclampsia while pregnant with her eldest daughter North West in 2012-to-2013.
To prevent complications that would affect both her and her unborn child, the then 32-year-old Kim was induced six weeks early.