Posted on 05/24/2024 11:46:38 AM PDT by ConservativeMind
Preeclampsia can be a life-threatening complication of pregnancy, but a new blood test can help predict a woman's risk for the condition while she is in her first trimester, the test's maker said Wednesday.
It's the first test that can be used between 11 and 14 weeks gestation to determine the risk of preeclampsia before 34 weeks of pregnancy, Labcorp said in a news release announcing the launch of the test.
Roughly one in 25 U.S. pregnancies is affected by preeclampsia, which poses an even greater risk for Black women, who experience the condition at a 60% higher rate than white women do, the company noted.
Still, some doctors wonder how much it will help.
…"It is not clear to me that this is appropriate for all patients who are pregnant in the first trimester. Perhaps the most applicable group could be for patients who had preeclampsia in a prior pregnancy, though these patients already have a high risk and are often followed differently in their pregnancy," Pettker added.
Preeclampsia is marked by elevated blood pressure, high levels of protein in the urine or other signs of organ damage. Typically, the condition surfaces after 20 weeks of pregnancy, according to the Cleveland Clinic.
There is no cure for preeclampsia, apart from delivering the baby, although severe cases can be managed with medications that include blood pressure drugs.
The new test measures the risk of preeclampsia with up to 90% sensitivity and 90% specificity, according to Labcorp. Sensitivity is the ability to identify pregnancies at high risk, while specificity refers to the opposite.
Labcorp is in talks with health insurers to see if the test could be covered, Caveney said, adding that it carries a list price of about $240. The test works by measuring four biomarkers associated with preeclampsia risk.
(Excerpt) Read more at medicalxpress.com ...
I have posted prior study write ups that describe a few ways to mitigate preeclampsia, available via FR’s search engine.
Preeclampsia is what killed Lady Sybil on Downton Abbey. If only they had listened to Doctor Clarkson!
Magnesium supplements are important in pregnancy. Milk of magnesia is cheap, and works for most women.
Magnesium is used to prevent seizures in women suffering from preeclampsia.
I don’t think it prevents preeclampsia or prevents stroke hemorrhagic or ischemic, liver rupture, liver damage, placental abruption, kidney damage, pulmonary edema, pulmonary embolism, disseminated intravascular coagulation, HELLP syndrome (Hemolysis - destruction of red blood cells, Elevated Liver enzymes, Low Platelets - no ability to clot, hemmorhage) or anything else in severe preeclampsia’s fatal toolkit - just seizures.
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.....The search results also suggest that oral magnesium supplementation during pregnancy may significantly reduce the risk of preeclampsia. A meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials found that oral magnesium supplementation during pregnancy reduced the risk of preeclampsia by 24% (risk ratio: 0.76, 95% confidence interval: 0.59 to 0.98, P = 0.04).....
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Thanks
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