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Women who test positive for gestational diabetes need to monitor their blood glucose levels during pregnancy, but experts say the risks do not stop there. (Twenty20)
October 29, 2018
NASHVILLE, Tennessee – National Diabetes Month begins this week and more than 1 in 10 Tennesseans are diabetic.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the state has one of the highest diabetes rates in the country, at 11%.
Although diabetes can affect people in all age groups, experts are particularly concerned about gestational diabetes in women or abnormal glucose levels during pregnancy.
More and more research indicates that the problem does not stop at the baby's birth, says Dr. Griffin Rodgers, director of the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Disease at the National Institutes of Health . It is therefore important to take precautions.
"Women with a history of gestational diabetes may take modest but important steps for themselves and their children to prevent or delay the onset of type 2 diabetes," he advises. "Follow healthy habits, consult a dietician or a diabetes educator."
Rodgers says that about half of women with gestational diabetes will develop type 2 diabetes later in life and that their children are more likely to become obese.
He recommends that women and their families maintain a healthy weight, eat well and exercise daily.
Rodgers says the CDC does not maintain specific data on gestational diabetes, but it goes without saying that with a high diabetes rate in Tennessee, the trend would include pregnant women.
"In general, there is a fairly good correlation between the prevalence of the disease in the state and the likelihood that state-run women will follow this rate," he said.
Diabetes can lead to health problems as serious as heart disease, blindness, kidney disease and limb amputations.
Experts estimate that as many as 161,000 Tennessians have diabetes but have not been diagnosed.
Stephanie Carson, Public Press Service – TN
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