title: Prepregnant blood pressure, hypertension during pregnancy, and later blood pressure of mothers and offspring.
abstract: In a community-based prospective study of black women, blood pressure (BP) before the onset of the first pregnancy was significantly higher in participants who were eventually diagnosed as having pre-eclampsia than those not so diagnosed. The diagnosis of "pre-eclampsia" appeared to be based entirely on BP; "hypertension associated with pregnancy" is probably a more accurate term. The BP of the pre-eclamptic group was consistently higher before admission to h ospital, during hospitalization, and at 6 weeks and 9 years after delivery. Daughters of pre-eclamptic mothers had higher BP than those of non-pre-eclamptic mothers; this difference was not apparent in boys. The data are compatible with a sex-limited subset of essential hypertension. It is perhaps estrogen-dependent, manifesting itself as mild "pre-eclampsia" in the mother and mild BP elevation in female offspring.
mesh_terms: D044383:Black People; D001794:Blood Pressure; D001835:Body Weight; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000150:complications*; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D008922:Mississippi; D011225:Pre-Eclampsia / Q000209:etiology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D011247:Pregnancy; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012737:Sex Factors; D001741:Black or African American