Diabetes in pregnancy is linked to the risk of future heart disease

A research report suggests that women with pregnancy-related diabetes have a higher risk of developing cardiovascular disease in the decade after birth.

Although so-called gestational diabetes has long been badociated with an increased risk of heart disease later in life, some previous research suggests that this risk may depend on whether the disease is evolving into type 2 diabetes that persists after the disease. 39; childbirth.

The researchers examined data from nine previous studies of nearly 5.4 million mothers. In total, about 8,000 women with a history of gestational diabetes have had cardiovascular events such as heart attacks and strokes, as well as more than 93,000 women without this complication of pregnancy.

"This study demonstrates that women with gestational diabetes have a risk of major cardiovascular events twice as high as their peers," said Dr. Ravi Retnakaran, lead author of the study, Lt. University of Toronto.

"This increased risk does not depend on (type 2 diabetes)," Retnakaran said via email. "The risk differential between women with gestational diabetes and their peers appears in the first decade after pregnancy."

Compared with women without gestational diabetes, those who suffered from it had a 2.3 times higher risk of events such as heart attacks and strokes in the first decade after the disease. 39; childbirth.

Even when the researchers looked only at women who did not have type 2 diabetes after pregnancy, they still found that gestational diabetes was badociated with a higher risk of serious cardiac events by 56%.

Type 2 diabetes is badociated with obesity and aging and has long been badociated with an increased risk of cardiovascular problems such as heart attacks and strokes.

Although the study was not designed to prove whether or how gestational diabetes could directly cause cardiovascular events, risk factors such as obesity could also contribute to diabetes during pregnancy and to heart problems, wrote researchers in Diabetologia.

"Although it's not entirely clear, most people think that pregnancy is like a stress test for diabetes and heart disease," said Dr. Jacinda Mawson Nicklas, researcher at the faculty of Medicine from the University of Colorado at Aurora. in the study.

"So it's not that gestational diabetes increases the risk, but that when a woman gets gestational diabetes, she reveals an increased risk that already existed," Nicklas said via email.

The authors of the study conclude that women who develop gestational diabetes may need a regular cardiac check-up even while they are still relatively young.

Nicklas explained that many things can be done by women to reduce their risk of cardiovascular disease before conceiving. This includes starting the pregnancy with a healthy weight, exercising and eating well during pregnancy.

"However, gestational diabetes is common and can occur even in women of normal weight," Nicklas said. "If a woman has gestational diabetes, it's important to work closely with your doctor to control your blood sugar."

After pregnancy, women with gestational diabetes must maintain a healthy diet and lifestyle for the heart and consult their doctor for screening, said Dr. Jennifer Stuart of Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School in Boston.

"Adopting a healthy lifestyle after pregnancy – having a healthy diet, being physically active, not smoking and not being obese or overweight – can reduce the risk of heart disease and stroke in women having a history of gestational diabetes, "Stuart said. "Not involved in the study, said by email.