The search for the causes of a condition which threatens pregnant women has been directed in the wrong places, experts said yesterday.
Pre-eclampsia triggers high blood pressure and, according to the new theory, is probably caused by oxygen shortages.
The idea is put forward in Anaesthesia.
Senior anaesthetists call for the condition to be renamed to help women understand it – suggesting the name of "hypertension caused by pregnancy."
They say there could be a variety of causes and conditions that lead to the growing baby not getting enough oxygen. They believe pre-eclampsia is caused by the mother’s body trying to deliver extra oxygen to the baby.
One of the experts, Professor Alicia Dennis, director of anaesthesia research at the Royal Women’s Hospital, Melbourne, Australia, said: "There has been no decrease in the prevalence of pre-eclampsia over the last 50 years. We were looking for a unified theory to explain why so many pregnant women develop this condition.
"Referring to it as hypertension caused by pregnancy, rather than the historically out-dated name of pre-eclampsia, would mean that women worldwide could be better informed and counselled about the condition."
Journal editor Dr Steve Yentis said: "The cause of pre-eclampsia, and identifying which women will develop hypertension in pregnancy, have puzzled health professionals for decades, so we were very keen to present the theories put forward by Dennis and Castro."
Hypertension and haemodynamics in pregnant women – is a unified theory of pre-eclampsia possible? Anaesthesia 17 October 2014; 69(11); doi:101111/anae12832. [abstract]
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