Summary Summary Short summary of a recent publication, written by scientific experts. Published: 24 Apr 2023

The impact of hypertensive disorders of pregnancy on cognitive decline in women from the Mayo Clinic Study of Aging

  • Previous studies showed that hypertensive disorders in pregnancy (HDP) predict lower cognitive ability and greater cognitive decline in later life. This study (n=2,239 women) explored the effects of any HDP, gestational or chronic hypertension (GH/CH), preeclampsia/eclampsia (PE/E), and nulliparity on cognition in later life.
  • The authors noted no differences in cognitive performance between these groups of women in comparison to women with normotensive pregnancies and nulliparity. Main findings demonstrated greater decline in global cognition, attention or executive z-scores in women with any HDP, especially those with PE/E, versus those with normotensive pregnancies.
  • Thus, results from this study supports earlier studies indicating that HDP is associated with a higher risk of cognitive decline later in life.