The failure of fertility treatments like IVF increases a woman's risk of developing heart disease. A study learned that a woman has a higher chance of having a stroke if she tried IVF but didn't get pregnant compared to a woman who had IVF and conceived.
The study looked into the records of 28,442 women from ages 35 and above who had IVF from 1993 to 2011. About a third of the group or 9,349 women got pregnant through fertility treatments and the rest were unsuccessful. Doctors followed the women until 2015 for their study, which was published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal, according to New York Magazine.
The experts learned that 19 percent or about 2,686 of their subjects who didn't get pregnant after IVF developed cardiovascular problems like heart failure. The experts saw that the risk, in this case, was at 100 to one. Those who had a baby via IVF, on the other hand, had a 166 to one risk of having heart diseases.
"These findings are consistent with the hypothesis that fertility therapy may represent an early indication for future cardiovascular disease because it represents a unique cardiometabolic stress test," the study authors concluded, according to Science Daily. The experts, however, cautioned that there is no need for women who have had IVF to be alarmed by the findings. The study has limitations as well as the experts didn't have other data, such as the subjects' blood pressure and cholesterol levels, that could impact the women's health.
Still, the experts advised women who failed IVF to instead monitor and maintain a good health and lifestyle. They should also tell their doctors about their fertility treatment history to get a proper evaluation during annual doctor visits. Women must also be proactive and discuss early intervention methods and ways to protect themselves from potential cardiac episodes.
