Infertility, Miscarriage Linked to Increased Risk for Stroke

TUESDAY, July 5, 2022 (HealthDay News) — Infertility, recurrent miscarriage, and stillbirth are associated with an increased risk for stroke, according to a study published online June 22 in The BMJ.

Chen Liang, from the University of Queensland in Brisbane, Australia, and colleagues examined the associations of iinfertility, recurrent miscarriage, and stillbirth with the risk for first nonfatal and fatal stroke using individual participant pooled data from eight prospective cohort studies. A total of 618,851 women aged 32 to 73 years at baseline were included, with follow-up of a median of 13.0 years for nonfatal stroke and 9.4 years for fatal stroke.

The researchers found that 2.8 percent of women experienced a first nonfatal stroke and 0.7 percent experienced a fatal stroke. Infertility was associated with an increased risk for nonfatal stroke (hazard ratio, 1.14), while recurrent miscarriage (at least three) was associated with an increased risk for nonfatal and fatal stroke (hazard ratios, 1.35 and 1.82, respectively). The risk for nonfatal stroke was increased for women with stillbirth (hazard ratio, 1.31), while those with recurrent stillbirth had an increased risk for fatal stroke (hazard ratio, 1.26). A single stroke subtype was the main driver for the increased risk for stroke associated with infertility or recurrent stillbirths (nonfatal ischemic stroke and fatal hemorrhagic stroke, respectively), while both subtypes drove the increased risk for stroke associated with recurrent miscarriages.

“Early monitoring of women with recurrent miscarriages or stillbirths and tailored healthy lifestyle interventions are recommended to lower the risk of stroke,” the authors write.