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The concerns that arise in a woman when she finds out she is pregnant are not few. Doubts arise from everywhere, about appearance, about food, about physical exercises and especially about health, such as doubts about high cholesterol in this delicate and special phase.
Danger Sign?
Many mothers are unsure about the consequences of high cholesterol in pregnancy , as to whether it can affect the fetus or herself during these nine months. Well, everyone knows that high cholesterol is not a good sign and that some precautions need to be taken, but in pregnancy this can even be considered normal. However, if the numbers exceed the limits, the care needs to be even greater so that there is no complication of any kind.
Why Does Cholesterol Go Up in Pregnancy?
All of this change has to do with the hormonal changes that a woman’s body undergoes during this period. It is always important to know that a woman’s body is changing because it is constantly adapting to the life it is generating.
Therefore, it is very common for estrogens and placental hormones to increase, which cause a woman’s cholesterol to increase considerably. It is also necessary to take into account that the woman’s body changes a lot, there is a lot of weight gain and often the cardiac system does not follow these changes with the same speed , which ends up causing the woman’s pressure to influence the increase in cholesterol.
Of course, there are several other factors for this to occur, such as hypothyroidism and an increase in progesterone in the woman’s body, but they are also common things that occur during pregnancy and are not necessarily bad things.
But that does not mean that there are no risks when there is high cholesterol in pregnancy. And the great danger is exactly that everyone thinks that, because it is something common, there are no cases where the mother and the baby can be affected.
Does High Cholesterol in Pregnancy Offer Risks?
The risks of high cholesterol in pregnancy are not only for the mother, but also for the baby. The first reason is that cholesterol is nothing more than the accumulation of fat in a person’s blood vessels.
When the accumulation of this fat is high, cholesterol is high. The problem is that if these levels are above normal for pregnant women, there will also be an accumulation of fat in the child’s blood vessels, which causes the child to have heart disease at an early age.
Other risks that involve high cholesterol in pregnancy are linked to the formation of the child and the risk of problems at the time of delivery . As there is danger for both the mother and the baby, it is necessary to prevent cholesterol from becoming high , but if the woman is already like that, there is no reason to worry, as there are some ways to lower cholesterol in pregnancy.
How to Reduce Cholesterol in Pregnancy
First of all, it is necessary to say that hypertension drugs are contraindicated for pregnant women and can cause even greater problems for women, so it is necessary to think of other ways to reduce cholesterol in pregnancy. There are basically two efficient ways that generate results without any type of medication interfering:
- Food
- Exercises
Food
Diet to reduce cholesterol in pregnancy needs to be very well controlled and, if possible, accompanied by a nutritionist. This is because, although it is necessary to lower cholesterol, it is also necessary to eat well so that the baby is healthy. Although it seems like a dilemma, there are healthy diets that can be followed and that generate efficient results.
Exercises
The case of exercise is very similar to that of food, especially with regard to the dilemma that women need to face because they need to exercise and be pregnant at the same time.
There are several specific exercises for pregnant women that make the body move and generate several benefits in addition to reducing cholesterol in pregnancy, such as water aerobics and walking , for example. Of course, it is necessary to have a professional accompaniment so that this type of activity does not end up becoming another problem.
All these ways of lowering cholesterol are also indicated for pregnant women who do not have high cholesterol, both for the health of these women to be perfect and ready for childbirth and to prevent high cholesterol in pregnancy and make it a problem. . Pregnancy already raises too many concerns in the mother’s mind, so the more the woman can prevent herself from this type of problem , the better for her and the baby, of course.
Having high cholesterol is often not a good sign in life, but when it comes to high cholesterol in pregnancy, it is quite common that there are many cases. But even if this is considered normal, it is dangerous to think that everything is always okay, especially for those women who already suffered from this type of problem before becoming pregnant.
It is necessary to be attentive at all times so that cholesterol does not exceed the limits considered normal even for pregnant women and does not end up creating a big problem for the woman’s pregnancy. And even if it is possible to lower cholesterol, the most recommended is to prevent it from getting high and cause such complications.
See Also: Attempts, Hyperthyroidism, Hypothyroidism and Pregnancy
My name is Dr. Alexis Hart I am 38 years old, I am the mother of 3 beautiful children! Different ages, different phases 16 years, 12 years and 7 years. In love with motherhood since always, I found it difficult to make my dreams come true, and also some more after I was already a mother.
Since I imagined myself as a mother, in my thoughts everything seemed to be much easier and simpler than it really was, I expected to get pregnant as soon as I wished, but it wasn’t that simple. The first pregnancy was smooth, but my daughter’s birth was very troubled. Joana was born in 2002 with a weight of 2930kg and 45cm, from a very peaceful cesarean delivery but she had already been born with congenital pneumonia due to a broken bag not treated with antibiotics even before delivery.
