Sex differences in growth and mortality in pregnancy-associated hypertension.

ABSTRACT:

Background

It is hypothesized that male fetuses prioritize growth, resulting in increased mortality, whereas females reduce growth in the presence of adversity. Preeclampsia reflects a chronic condition, in which fetuses have the opportunity to adjust growth. If females reduce their growth in response to preeclampsia, but males attempt to maintain growth at the cost of survival, we predict that differences in birthweight between preeclamptic and non-preeclamptic pregnancies will be greater among females, whereas differences in mortality will be greater among males.

Methods

We analysed data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. We compared pregnancies with pregnancy-associated hypertension (PAH) and controls.

Results

The difference in birthweight between

SUBMITTER: Hercus JC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10783718 | biostudies-literature | 2024

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature