London- Women who do not conceive after IVF are at greater risk of developing heart disease than those who get pregnant with it, a new study revealed.

Drugs used in the IVF process to maximize conception chances were proven strong with severe side effects; they were found to be dangerously affecting blood pressure and raising the risk of heart attacks and strokes.

IVF patients who never have a baby are at a 19 percent higher risk of cardiovascular disease than IVF patients who do have babies, the study found.

Although the IVF procedure can be done without these drugs, women undergoing this treatment insist on receiving strong fertility drugs to produce the highest number of eggs and have more chances of conception.

Consequently, these drugs may cause damage to women’s hearts by raising the risk of clots or changing how the body controls blood pressure.

According to the study, overstimulated ovaries release chemicals into the bloodstream that can make blood vessels leakier. This could cause remaining blood in the vessels to thicken, making clots more likely.

Lead researcher Dr. Jacob Udell, a cardiologist at the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences in Canada, said they have noticed, caring for these patients for a long time, that fertility drug treatment can cause short-term complications, such as high blood pressure and diabetes during pregnancy; they recently started worrying that there may be some longer term consequences, he added.

The study looked at everyone under 50 who had gonadotropin fertility treatment in Ontario over two decades, totalling 28,442 women. The women followed were in their late forties on average by the end of the study.

After a decade they found that patients whose treatment had been unsuccessful had a 19 percent increased risk of cardiovascular problems, including stroke, thrombosis and heart failure. The researchers stressed that only about ten in 1,000 suffered heart problems after failed IVF, compared with six in 1,000 for those who had successful treatment.