Having more kids associated with reduced risk of stroke and brain damage, research co-led by UT Health San Antonio shows
Posted on: Wednesday, April 29th, 2026
A new study co-led by UT Health San Antonio researchers suggests that women who have had three or more live births may have a lower risk of stroke and vascular brain injury later in life. Published in the Journal of the American Heart Association, the findings highlight the importance of reproductive history as a potential factor in assessing women’s stroke risk and could help improve female‑specific prediction and prevention strategies.
The study, titled, “Number of Live Births as a Protective Factor Against Clinical and Covert Brain Infarcts: The Framingham Heart Study,” was published on April 7 in the Journal of the American Heart Association, and on behalf of the association.
“Our findings would suggest that reproductive factors – for example, number of live births – may be an additional factor to consider when assessing stroke risk in women,” said Sudha Seshadri, MD, a behavioral neurologist, professor and founding director of the Glenn Biggs Institute for Alzheimer’s and Neurodegenerative Diseases at UT Health San Antonio.
She is joint senior author of the study with Emer R. McGrath, PhD, with the School of Medicine at the University of Galway in Ireland. “Inclusion of this risk factor in female-specific clinical prediction rules for stroke may enhance risk prediction in women,” Seshadri said.
Read the full article at the UT Health San Antonio Newsroom.