Parity and carotid artery atherosclerosis in elderly women : The Rotterdam Study

• Published in: Stroke (1970) Vol. 32; no. 10; pp. 2259 - 2264
• Main Authors: HUMPHRIES, Karin H, WESTENDORP, Iris C. D, BOTS, Michiel L, SPINELLI, John J, CARERE, Ronald G, HOFMAN, Albert, WITTEMAN, Jacqueline C. M
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Hagerstown, MD Lippincott Williams & Wilkins 01.10.2001; American Heart Association, Inc
• Subjects: Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Alcohol Drinking; Biological and medical sciences; Body Mass Index; Carotid Artery Diseases - blood; Carotid Artery Diseases - diagnosis; Carotid Artery Diseases - epidemiology; Carotid Artery, Common - diagnostic imaging; Causality; Cholesterol - blood; Cholesterol, HDL - blood; Female; Humans; Insulin Resistance; Logistic Models; Medical sciences; Menopause; Middle Aged; Netherlands - epidemiology; Neurology; Odds Ratio; Parity; Risk Assessment; Risk Factors; Social Class; Ultrasonography; Vascular diseases and vascular malformations of the nervous system; Human; Carotid bifurcation; Alcohol; Cardiovascular disease; Glucose; Medical screening; Metabolism; Insulin; Vascular disease; Pregnancy; Common carotid; Body mass index; Cholesterol HDL; Atherosclerosis; Risk factor; Parity; Elderly
• ISSN: 0039-2499; 1524-4628
• DOI: 10.1161/hs1001.097224

It has been postulated that physiological changes in the cardiovascular system, lipids, and glucose metabolism during pregnancy may increase subsequent risk of cardiovascular disease. Examination of the association between parity and risk factors for atherosclerosis may contribute information regarding possible mechanisms. The relationship of parity with cardiovascular risk factors and the presence of carotid atherosclerosis was examined in the Rotterdam Study, a population-based study comprising 4878 women aged 55 years and older. Carotid atherosclerosis was assessed by ultrasonographic detection of plaques in the common carotid artery and bifurcation. Logistic regression models were used to compute odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals, adjusted for confounding factors. Parity was inversely associated with high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and alcohol intake. Parity was positively associated with body mass index, total/HDL cholesterol ratio, insulin resistance, age at menopause, and socioeconomic status. Relative to nulliparous women, parous women had 36% (9% to 71%) greater risk of carotid atherosclerosis, rising to 64% in women with >/=4 children (19% to 127%). Adjustment for known cardiovascular risk factors, including insulin resistance and current lipid levels, did not diminish the magnitude of this association. Data demonstrated that there is a positive association between parity and risk of carotid artery plaques in elderly women and, further, that high parity is associated with lower HDL cholesterol levels and higher glucose/insulin ratios long after childbearing has ceased.