New Finding May Help Explain Development Of Preeclampsia

ScienceDaily (Feb. 11, 2008) — In a study of pregnant women, those with pregnancy-induced high blood pressure were found to have higher levels of a peptide that raises blood pressure in the pieces of tissue linking mother and fetus, according to researchers at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center. The finding, reported online in the journal Hypertension, may help explain how the disorder develops.

Preeclampsia, or high blood pressure induced by pregnancy, affects 7 to 10 percent of pregnancies in the United States and is the second-leading cause of maternal mortality. It is the leading cause of pre-term delivery and contributes significantly to stillbirths and death in newborns.

The researchers found that in women with preeclampsia, levels of angiotensin II (Ang II), a hormone that constricts blood vessels and causes blood pressure to rise, was doubled in the chorionic villi, part of the placenta that links mother and fetus and supplies food and oxygen.

"This finding may be part of the preeclampsia puzzle," said Lauren Anton, a graduate student who is first author on the research. "Anything that gets us closer to understanding this disease is important because there is no treatment and no cure and women are still delivering babies too early."

The researchers theorize that Ang II may restrict the fetal vessels that lie within the chorionic villi, which not only raises blood pressure, but also lowers oxygen and nutrient flow to the baby and may result in lower birth weight and other complications of preeclampsia.

The study involved 21 women with preeclampsia and 25 women without the disorder. After delivery, tissue sections were taken from the center of the placenta for analysis. More

My baby was put in a shared grave

Years after losing her son through hospital blunders, Alvina Carrington discovered a new horror
Denis Campbell, health correspondent
Sunday December 2, 2007
The Observer

In late 2004, on a visit to her son's grave, Alvina Carrington was surprised to find fresh flowers. 'I knew I hadn't put them there, so I thought it was odd,' she recalls. But Alvina assumed a friend or member of her family had brought them, and was touched someone had made the journey to Alperton cemetery on the north-west fringes of London to remember Luke, who had been stillborn at seven months.

After his death in October 2003 Alvina's life fell apart. She had lost the first child she desperately wanted and had spent six years trying for. An appalling series of blunders by doctors and midwives meant her pre-eclampsia went unidentified, with fatal consequences. Amid the shock, grief and anger, her relationship broke up. Previously very sociable, the 33-year-old became introverted and virtually housebound. She gave up her job, unable to stop crying every night after she got home. Alvina thought she had reached the lowest point of her life.

But more than a year after that trip to the cemetery, in early 2006, she suffered another heartbreak. In the course of asking what sort of headstone she could put on Luke's grave, Alvina discovered that what she thought was her son's final resting place also contained the bodies of several other babies. The flowers were for one of them, not Luke.

'I'd rung the cemetery, told them Luke was buried there, given them the plot number and asked them what size of headstone I could erect. I'd decided that I was going to have gold lettering saying "Blue: in our hearts always", because that was the nickname I'd given him, and then 'Luke' underneath.

'That would have been the final act. But the cemetery people explained to me that it wasn't my property, that it belonged to Brent Council, that I'd need to get their permission for the headstone and that there were other babies in the grave,' says Alvina. 'I was devastated. I thought it was Luke's grave and only Luke's grave, and that it was my property. I thought the cemetery had got it wrong. But they said to me: "It should have been explained to you that the grave belongs to the council and that other babies are there."

'I wanted to know how many other babies were in there beside Luke, and whether they were on top of each other or side by side. I wanted to know if there was another baby on top of Luke.'

More

BBC News: Aspirin 'cuts pre-eclampsia risk'

Taking aspirin throughout pregnancy could reduce the risk of the potentially dangerous condition pre-eclampsia, a major study suggests.

A University of Sydney team analysed data on more than 32,000 women for a study published in The Lancet.

The results suggested cases of pre-eclampsia, which is caused by a defect in the placenta, could fall by 10% if aspirin was taken widely.

Experts urged caution, given the small risks linked to long-term aspirin use. (continue)

BBC News: Home spit test for pre-eclampsia

A UK hospital is testing a home spit kit designed to help mums-to-be spot if they are at risk of pre-eclampsia.

One thousand women in Chichester will try the test that reads saliva for tell-tale markers of impending kidney problems linked with the condition.

It is expected to be more reliable than traditional blood pressure and urine checks, the Chemistry & Industry magazine reports.

Pre-eclampsia can be symptomless and kills up to 1,000 UK babies every year. (continue)