(Health Matters) — With pregnancy being a time of so much change, health is often top of mind for moms-to-be. While many pregnant patients are aware of the risk of developing conditions such as gestational diabetes and high blood pressure, there’s one more health risk that should be on their radars: stroke during pregnancy, says Dr. Eliza Miller, a neurologist at NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia University Irving Medical Center.
One in five strokes in women under age 35 are related to pregnancy, says Dr. Miller, who specializes in treating pregnancy-related stroke. “Stroke is something that can happen to a person at any age, and it tends to have different causes at different ages, but one of the major causes of stroke in young adults is pregnancy-related complications,” she says.
“Thankfully, most of the underlying causes are treatable, and recognizing the warning signs early can greatly reduce the risk of stroke.” (…)