Hypertensive disorders of pregnancy are associated with dysmenorrhea in early adulthood: A cohort study

Abstract

Aim: Hypertensive disorders of pregnancy (HDP) are serious conditions that occur in 5-10% of pregnancies. Maternal factors, such as maternal age, obesity, and renal disease, have been described as risk factors. In order to extract the background lifestyle and gynecological characteristics for HDP, we conducted a prospective cohort study. Methods: Pregnant participants were administered a questionnaire on characteristics, menstrual abnormalities and lifestyle factors. The women were followed individually until 1-month postpartum. We used medical records to examine the relationship between menstrual abnormalities and the onset of HDP. Results: We collected data from 193 pregnant women, and excluding 3 who had miscarriage, examined the records of 190. A total of 26 patients developed HDP, of which 10 had early-onset HDP and 16 had late-onset HDP. Although there was no significant association between HDP and dysmenorrhea just prior to pregnancy, there was a significant increase in the incidence of HDP in patients who experienced dysmenorrhea around the age of 20 years (odds ratio 4.362 [95% CI 1.61-11.81]). Conclusion: We found that patients with a history of dysmenorrhea around the age of 20 years have a significantly higher risk of developing HDP. Although dysmenorrhea in young adulthood is ameliorated, it may become apparent as a perinatal disease when a physical load such as pregnancy is applied.

Comparison of Menstruation-Related Symptoms Before and During Menstruation of University Students in Japan, a Year after the COVID-19 Pandemic

“…The premenstrual symptoms and dysmenorrhea are reported to affect school life and academic performance (Armour et al, 2019;Tadakawa et al, 2016). Recently, it has been reported that dysmenorrhea increases the risk of hypertensive disorders of pregnancy (Nakayama et al, 2020) and increases the risk of giving birth to a low-birth-weight baby (Feng et al, 2021), while PMS increases the risk of hypertension (Bertone-Johnson, Whitcomb, Rich-Edwards, Hankinson, & Manson, 2015). Thus, dysmenorrhea and PMS may influence the future health of young women.…”

Trajectories of menstrual symptoms and blood pressure in midlife: A prospective cohort study on Australian women

“…However, the relationship between painful periods and blood pressure has been reported previously in several studies 26 . A 14-year follow up study reported that women with painful periods were also at increased risk of ischaemic heart disease if they are hypertensive 31 , while a cohort of Japanese women had increased risk of developing hypertensive disorder of pregnancy if they had painful periods around the age of 20 32 , highlighting that the long term effects of painful periods on blood pressure should not be discounted.…”

Skipping breakfast during pregnancy and hypertensive disorders of pregnancy in Japanese women: the Tohoku medical megabank project birth and three-generation cohort study

“…The third possible mechanism is that the disruption of circadian rhythms caused by skipping breakfast affects reproductive function. In previous studies, skipping breakfast in female college students was associated with dysmenorrhea [ 40 – 42 ], and pregnant women who experienced dysmenorrhea at a young age had a higher risk of developing HDP [ 43 ]. In a study using mice, it was observed that perinatal abnormalities such as placental abruption occurred when the Bmal1 clock gene, which regulates the circadian clock, was lost in utero [ 44 ].…”