Small doses of aspirin can help with hypertension in pregnant women

Up to 8% of pregnant women face a dangerous disease – preeclampsia (hypertension of pregnant women), during which a high level of protein is recorded in the urine, and the woman suffers from high blood pressure. Specialists from the United States of America believe that this pathology can be dealt with using small doses of aspirin. Such therapy is indicated for all women who are at risk.

Corresponding recommendations for gynecologists have already been issued, based on more than twenty different studies.

In all the experiments, the researchers proved that taking aspirin every day starting from the twelfth week of pregnancy reduces the likelihood of preeclampsia by 24%. In addition, aspirin helps prevent other pathologies of pregnancy caused by preeclampsia (14% chance of premature birth, 20% risk of intrauterine growth retardation).

Before prescribing low doses of aspirin to pregnant women at risk, the specialist must make sure that the woman has not had any negative side effects from aspirin in the past. Doctors from the United States recommend taking no more than 81 mg per day, starting from the fourth month of pregnancy.

Another group of scientists from the University of Pittsburgh found that vitamin D deficiency in the first 26 weeks of pregnancy increases the risk of preeclampsia. Some pregnant women also suffer from severe swelling, headaches, visual impairment, and pain in the rib area.

Vitamin D plays an important role during pregnancy, its deficiency can provoke gestational diabetes, low birth weight, increased risk of infections, and the need for a cesarean section. Experts announced a link between vitamin D deficiency and preeclampsia after studying blood samples from more than three thousand women, 700 of whom subsequently developed the pathological condition.

With a lack of vitamin D in the first 26 weeks of pregnancy, a woman's likelihood of developing severe preeclampsia increases by 40%. But scientists have not found a connection between the level of vitamin D and the moderate form of preeclampsia. According to experts, a possible reason for the development of the pathological condition lies in the fact that different forms of preeclampsia can be provoked by different sources. But doctors continue to work in this direction and are trying to understand whether it is possible to cure severe preeclampsia with a complex of vitamin supplements.

In addition, specialists have recently developed a test that will help determine the presence of preeclampsia in a pregnant woman at 26 weeks by analyzing urine. Currently, there are no analogues of such a test and doctors diagnose preeclampsia by symptoms. However, in some cases, the pathology can develop covertly, which poses a threat to both the life of the woman and her child. About 10% of women suffer from moderate preeclampsia during pregnancy, and about 2% from more severe ones.

Preeclampsia leads to increased blood pressure, increased protein levels in the urine, and fluid retention in the body. This pathological condition can lead to a stroke or coma. There are 80,000 cases of women dying from preeclampsia in the world. For a child, preeclampsia in the mother can provoke cerebral palsy, epilepsy, deafness, blindness, lung disease, more than 50,000 children die as a result of the pathology.

The new test works by using biomarkers that detect a specific type of protein in kidney cells.

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