“the at-risk group now captures women with pregnancy complications such as preeclampsia gestational diabetes or pregnancy-induced hypertension ” says [american heart association 2011] guideline chair lori mosca md phd. mosca is director of preventive cardiology at new york-presbyterian hospital and a professor of medicine at columbia university medical center in new york city. “these complications are the equivalent of a failed stress test ” she says. doctors use exercise stress tests to diagnose heart disease. “if you do develop one of these conditions during pregnancy it is an unmasking of the risk that tells us your vascular system doesn’t function ideally ” mosca says.
how serious are pregnancy complications in terms of future risk for heart disease?