“Pregnancy is essentially a ‘stress test’ for women, and these adverse pregnancy outcomes can be used to identify women who are at an increased risk for ASCVD, even in those for whom the conditions resolve after delivery,” the authors said.
To reduce or prevent these issues, the authors recommended ob.gyn. clinicians perform a “thorough family history, screening for and targeted review of cardiovascular risk factors (including those unique to women), and lifestyle counseling to improve cardiovascular risk factors with the goal of preventing future cardiovascular events.”
“The American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association guidelines for the assessment of cardiovascular risk find it reasonable to screen adults free of cardiovascular disease for risk factors such as smoking, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, total cholesterol, and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol every 4-6 years between the ages of 20 and 79 years to calculate their 10-year cardiovascular risk,” they wrote.
Regarding diabetes care, clinicians should screen for abnormal glucose levels in overweight or obese patients aged between 40 and 70 years and schedule lifestyle counseling for any patients with prediabetes (HbA1c = 5.7%-6.4%), diabetes mellitus (HbA1c greater than 6.4%), gestational diabetes, or metabolic syndrome.