International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics

A safe motherhood study has found an association between subclinical hypothyroidism and an increased risk of developing severe preeclampsia.

The research, which was published in journal Obstetrics & Gynecology, involved the analysis of data on the pregnancy outcomes of 24,833 women.

Each participant's serum thyroid-function analytes were measured and those with overt thyroid disease were not used in the investigation.

The prevalence of hypertension among individuals with subclinical hypothyroidism during pregnancy was 10.9 per cent, compared with 6.2 per cent for those with mild hyperthyroidism and 8.5 per cent with no thyroid problems.

"After adjusting for confounding factors, there was a significant association between subclinical hypothyroidism and severe preeclampsia," the authors wrote.

Incidences of gestational hypertension and mild preeclampsia were also assessed.

A study by a team from the Yale School of Medicine's Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences in Connecticut, US, recently suggested preeclampsia may be caused by a problem with the placenta's ability to trick the mother's immune system into not attacking it.

Posted by Alexandra George