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Researchers at (ECU) in Western Australia have developed a simple, low-cost test for predicting pre-eclampsia, with results published in .

Pre-eclampsia 鈥� a potentially deadly condition that affects pregnant women 鈥� is one of the leading causes of maternal鈥揻oetal mortality worldwide, responsible for the death of 76,000 mothers and 500,000 babies each year, primarily in the developing world. The condition can cause devastating complications for women and babies, including brain and liver injury in mothers and premature birth.

During their investigations, ECU researchers assessed the health status of 593 pregnant Ghanaian women using the Suboptimal Health Questionnaire, developed in 2009 by Professor Wei Wang from ECU鈥檚 School of Health and Medical Sciences. The questionnaire combines scores for fatigue, heart health, digestion, immunity and mental health, providing an overall 鈥榮uboptimal health score鈥� that can help predict chronic diseases.

Prof Wang鈥檚 PhD candidate, Enoch Anto, found that 61% of women with a high score on the questionnaire went on to develop pre-eclampsia, compared with just 17% with a low score.

When these results were combined with blood tests measuring the women鈥檚 calcium and magnesium levels, the researchers were able to accurately predict the development of pre-eclampsia in almost 80% of cases.

Anto said pre-eclampsia was very treatable once identified, so providing an early warning could save thousands of lives.

鈥淚n developing nations, pre-eclampsia is a leading cause of death for both mothers and babies,鈥� Anto said.

鈥淚n Ghana, it鈥檚 responsible for 18% of maternal deaths, but it can be treated using medication that lowers blood pressure once diagnosed.

鈥淏oth blood tests for magnesium and calcium and the Suboptimal Health Questionnaire are inexpensive, making this ideally suited to the developing world where pre-eclampsia causes the most suffering.鈥�

Image credit:聽漏stock.adobe.com/au/paulmz