Pregnancy is not associated with increased chronic damage in women with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), regardless of when they’re diagnosed with the autoimmune disease, according to a Japanese study.

While these findings may help alleviate fears about childbearing for these women, an SLE diagnosis does put them at greater risk for pregnancy-related complications, the researchers found.

Previous studies have shown that accumulation of chronic damage is associated with age, high blood pressure, disease activity, antiphospholipid syndrome (APS) — which causes recurrent blood clots — and the use of glucocorticoids.

Research has suggested that pregnancy after SLE diagnosis is not associated with chronic damage observed at the first visit after delivery and, in the case of women with lupus nephritis (a common and serious kidney inflammation caused by SLE), over eight years after delivery.

“However, whether pregnancies in patients with SLE affect long-term damage accrual is not clear nor is the effect in patients who experienced pregnancy before the diagnosis of SLE,” the researchers wrote.

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