Hypertensive disorders in pregnancy and cognitive decline in the offspring up to old age.

ABSTRACT:

Objective

We tested whether maternal hypertensive disorders in pregnancy predict age-related change in cognitive ability in the offspring up to old age.

Methods

Using mothers' blood pressure and urinary protein measurements from the maternity clinics and birth hospitals, we defined normotensive or hypertensive pregnancies in mothers of 398 men, who participated in the Helsinki Birth Cohort 1934-1944 Study. The men underwent the Finnish Defence Forces basic ability test twice: first during compulsory military service at age 20.1 (SD = 1.4) years and then in a retest at age 68.5 (SD = 2.9) years. The test yields a total score and subscores for tests measuring verbal, arithmetic, and visuospatial reasoning.

Results

Men born after pregnancies complicated by a hypertensive

SUBMITTER: Tuovinen S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3475625 | biostudies-literature | 2012 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature