Pregnancies linked to a healthier heart

Pregnancies linked to a healthier heart

In a new study from a single California community, women who had been pregnant at least four times were less likely to die from cardiovascular disease than those who'd never been expecting.

Researchers said that could be due to the protective effects of pregnancy-related hormones as well as the extra social support that comes with having more children - or the fact that women who are able to get pregnant more often are healthier to begin with.

It's not clear that getting pregnant more often protects women's hearts, necessarily.

"It's just one more little piece of the puzzle that maybe physicians should be aware of or think about," said Donna Kritz-Silverstein, from the University of California, San Diego.

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