African Americans have the highest occurrence of preeclampsia during pregnancy. Studies have shown rates as high as 85% scoring 4 and above in the ACE survey. Have there been any studies with high cortisol and high ACES in relation to preeclampsia. Cortisol stiffens arteries and blocks other body efforts in relaxing arteries, therefore causing elevated blood pressure.
Native Americans are twice as much at risk in have preeclampsia. This is another population with similar ACE scores.
Replies sorted oldest to newest
Peter:
This is fascinating and I'll follow this to share with my sister who also had pre-eclampsia in her first pregnancy. Cissy.
Can you post the study you are referencing. Very interesting.
Great question! I particularly find this interesting since I have an ACE score of >4 and had pretty serious preeclampsia with both of my pregnancies.
I've read articles, such as the one attached, that link ACEs to spontaneous preterm birth. The article indicates that for every ACE there is an 18% increased risk of PTB. Specifically," two or more ACEs have a notable two-fold increase of spontaneous preterm birth". Please see the attached document for further details. Karen
www.preeclampsia.org Preeclampsia Foundation
Needed: Minority representation in research
While all pregnant women are at risk and should know the signs and symptoms of preeclampsia, and when to seek medical attention, we know now that American Indians/Alaska Natives have twice the normal rate of preeclampsia, and are also more likely to enter pregnancy with underlying conditions like obesity and diabetes that can make preeclampsia more likely to occur.
Preeclampsia Strikes African American Women Hard
Last Updated on Wednesday, February 06, 2013
By Dr. Linda Burke-Galloway
âĶOn an average, there is approximately 1 maternal death for every 100,000 births, but for African American women, this number triples. African American women are three times more likely to die from preeclampsia and other childbirth-related issues and no one knows whyâĶ
The Connection Between Your Cortisol Levels and Vascular Tone
The Cortisol Connection
The Impact of Increased Vascular Tone on Your Cardiovascular System
When cortisol releases from the adrenal glands, it enters the circulatory system immediately. The endothelial and smooth muscle cells that line your arteries are sensitive to glucocorticoids. In addition to this, there is evidence suggesting that high circulating amounts of cortisol makes arteries more responsive to norepinephrine and vascular resistance. When vascular tone is high, the space that blood can move through is reduced. As a result, the heart must pump harder to deliver blood to organs around the body. In turn, your heart continues to respond to other hormonal mechanisms at the kidneys which also increase blood pressure. For example, when the kidneys detect low blood volume or low sodium, they will initiate the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone cascade. All of this means that a constant state of hypertension can result. For the average person suffering from high cortisol levels, this means you increase your risk of other cardiovascular diseases. This includes coronary artery disease and heart attacks.
These are only a few of the articles that are out there.
Karen Clemmer posted:Great question! I particularly find this interesting since I have an ACE score of >4 and had pretty serious preeclampsia with both of my pregnancies.
I've read articles, such as the one attached, that link ACEs to spontaneous preterm birth. The article indicates that for every ACE there is an 18% increased risk of PTB. Specifically," two or more ACEs have a notable two-fold increase of spontaneous preterm birth". Please see the attached document for further details. Karen
Hi Karen: I'm so grateful for you and the resources you share. I'm going to share over at Parenting with ACEs. I don't want to scare people but people need to know about risks. Do you know, in medical settings, how women are talked to who have increased risks for a variety of things during pregnancy? I wonder if that's not a model for how we talk to people (pregnant or not) about some of the ACE-related risks and if knowing the higher risks wouldn't help people screened more and sooner? Cis
Christine Cissy White posted:Karen Clemmer posted:Great question! I particularly find this interesting since I have an ACE score of >4 and had pretty serious preeclampsia with both of my pregnancies.
I've read articles, such as the one attached, that link ACEs to spontaneous preterm birth. The article indicates that for every ACE there is an 18% increased risk of PTB. Specifically," two or more ACEs have a notable two-fold increase of spontaneous preterm birth". Please see the attached document for further details. Karen
Hi Karen: I'm so grateful for you and the resources you share. I'm going to share over at Parenting with ACEs. I don't want to scare people but people need to know about risks. Do you know, in medical settings, how women are talked to who have increased risks for a variety of things during pregnancy? I wonder if that's not a model for how we talk to people (pregnant or not) about some of the ACE-related risks and if knowing the higher risks wouldn't help people screened more and sooner? Cis
As I do my ACEs awareness on EMS calls, I help connect the dots for people and their faces shine with a new understanding. I don't think you will alarm any. If anything you will hear a "click" in the room as things make sense .
Gestational diabetes is another question I ask myself. Cordisol tells the liver to release glucose. So is it really diabetes?
One of the triggers for preeclampsia is a new boyfriend. Now does 10,000 years of evolution influence stressor on the mom. Is this new man going to take care of me? Is he going to take care of , provide for and protect my child? Is he going to believe this child is his? What are her cordisol levels from this stress.
Cordisol levels are worth looking into.
Here's an article about how Peter incorporates ACEs science into his EMT work:
