title: Hypertensive disorders in pregnancy and intellectual abilities in the offspring in young adulthood: the Helsinki Birth Cohort Study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Hypertensive disorders may affect the fetal developmental milieu and thus hint at mechanisms by which prenatal adversity associates with poorer intellectual ability in subsequent life.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  We tested if hypertensive disorders in pregnancy are associated with intellectual ability in the offspring in young adulthood and if any potential associations between hypertensive disorders and intellectual abilities differ according to length of gestation, birth-weight, parity, and childhood socio-economic background.
  
  
  METHODS
  Using mothers' blood pressure and urinary protein measurements at maternity clinics and birth hospitals, we defined normotensive or hypertensive pregnancies in mothers of 1,196 men who participated in the Helsinki Birth Cohort 1934-1944 Study. At age 20 years the men completed a test on intellectual abilities during compulsory military service.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Participants born after pregnancies complicated by hypertensive disorders scored lower on intellectual abilities compared to those born after normotensive pregnancies. The effects of hypertensive disorders were most obvious in men born preterm or after a primiparous pregnancy and in men of higher childhood socio-economic background.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Hypertensive disorders in pregnancy are, albeit weakly, associated with lower intellectual abilities in the offspring. These findings are compatible with the concept of adverse fetal 'programming' by a suboptimal prenatal environment.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Behavioral Sciences, University of Helsinki, Finland.
authors.forename: Soile
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Tuovinen
authors.forename: Katri
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Räikkönen
authors.forename: Eero
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Kajantie
authors.forename: Jukka T
authors.initials: JT
authors.lastname: Leskinen
authors.forename: Markus
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Henriksson
authors.forename: Anu-Katriina
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: Pesonen
authors.forename: Kati
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Heinonen
authors.forename: Clive
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Osmond
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Barker
authors.forename: Johan G
authors.initials: JG
authors.lastname: Eriksson
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000419:Albuminuria; D001794:Blood Pressure; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D047109:Fetal Development / Q000502:physiology; D005387:Finland; D006801:Humans; D046110:Hypertension, Pregnancy-Induced; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007234:Infant, Premature; D007235:Infant, Premature, Diseases / Q000209:etiology*; D008607:Intellectual Disability / Q000209:etiology*; D016014:Linear Models; D008297:Male; D011247:Pregnancy; D055815:Young Adult