Hypertensive Disorders of Pregnancy Appear Not to Be Associated with Alzheimer's Disease Later in Life

BACKGROUND After hypertensive disorders of pregnancy, more subjective cognitive complaints and white matter lesions are reported compared to women after normal pregnancies. Both have a causal relationship with Alzheimer's disease (AD). AIM To investigate if women whose pregnancy was complicated by hypertensive disorders have an increased risk of AD. METHODS A case-control study in women with AD from the Alzheimer Center of the VU University Medical Center Amsterdam and women without AD. Paper and telephone surveys were performed. RESULTS The response rate was 85.2%. No relation between women with (n = 104) and without AD (n = 129) reporting pregnancies complicated by hypertensive disorders (p = 0.11) was found. Women with early-onset AD reported hypertensive disorders of pregnancy more often (p = 0.02) compared to women with late-onset AD. CONCLUSION A reported history of hypertensive disorders of pregnancy appears not to be associated with AD later in life.