This Food Could Be The Key To Reducing Blood Pressure In Pregnant Women

High blood pressure is bad for many reasons, but when it affects someone who is pregnant, it can be even worse.

Preeclampsia, the official name for pregnancy hypertension, occurs when a pregnant woman has high blood pressure and excessive swelling. It has potentially harmful effects for both the mother and the baby.

Researchers tested this hypothesis using pregnant rats with high blood pressure, using L-ergothioneine, a compound extracted from mushrooms, to treat the hypertension. When compared with the control group, results showed that the compound was effective in treating symptoms of the disorder—not only lowering blood pressure but boosting health in other ways. 

Lead author Cathal McCarthy, Ph.D., says, "Our research shows that treating rats with preeclampsia with the natural antioxidant L-ergothioneine reduced blood pressure, prevented fetal growth restriction and dampened production of the damaging substances released from the placenta during preeclampsia.” 

Researchers are working on a way to manufacture the compound on their own, hoping that a greater production will help improve treatment for hypertensive pregnant mothers. "Today, ergothioneine is either made chemically or extracted from mushrooms, but we are developing a method to make it biologically," says author Douglas Kell. "This should lead to its much wider availability."

While the study was only done on rats, researchers hope that these results will translate to humans, effectively treating preeclampsia, which can help both expecting mothers and their unborn children.