Pregnant women who develop preeclampsia already have an increased risk of having a stroke during pregnancy, but scientists discovered that the disease is also a risk factor for future strokes.

Dr David W. Brown and colleagues in Atlanta looked at data taken from studies regarding young women's risk of strokes and tried to determine a possible link between preeclampsia and stroke in women aged 15 to 44.

261 cases of strokes were identified among non-pregnant women in the study group, comparing them to 416 who have not had a stroke. Investigators mentioned 15% of women with strokes and 10% of healthy women had a history of preeclampsia.

After considering age, race, education and number of pregnancies, women who suffered from preeclampsia, a condition that includes abnormally high blood pressure had 60% more chances of developing a heart attack than those who did not suffer any complications during pregnancy.

Researchers have yet to discover the reason behind this increased risk, but they say that women with preeclampsia should be monitored after the pregnancy in order to reduce the risk of a heart attack later in life.