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Children born through IVF are six times more likely to suffer high blood pressure than naturally conceived children, putting them at greater risk of heart attacks and strokes, new research suggests.
In a study of 96 youngsters, researchers in the Switzerland found one in seven teenagers who were born through assisted reproduction had clinically high blood pressure by the age of 16, compared with just 2.3 per cent of those born naturally.
Around 20,000 babies are born through IVF in Britain each year. But the oldest test-tube baby - Louise Brown - is only 40 years old, so the long term impact of fertility treatment is still unknown.
The researchers warned that the results showed ‘serious signs of concern’ that IVF youngsters were at increased risk of cardiovascular problems which can lead to heart attacks and stroke.
“The increased prevalence of arterial hypertension in (IVF) participants is what is most concerning,” said lead author Dr Emrush Rexhaj, director of Arterial Hypertension and Altitude Medicine at University Hospital in Bern.
"There is growing evidence that assisted reproduction alters the blood vessels...