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Tuesday, September 11, 2018 (HealthDay News) – A new study finds that women with high blood sugar in pregnancy are at a higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes years after giving birth.
The researchers noted that the finding was true, whether or not a woman had actual "gestational diabetes" during pregnancy.
Babies can also be affected: children born to these women were more prone to obesity, according to the study.
"For mothers, high blood sugar is an important risk factor for the subsequent development of abnormal blood glucose levels, including type 2 diabetes," said researcher Dr. Boyd Metzger. He is Professor Emeritus of Medicine at the Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University in Chicago.
"It exceeds the risk of diabetes associated with being overweight or obese," he said.
For the study, Metzger and his colleagues used data from a national study that followed mothers and their children for 10 to 14 years after birth.
The results of the original study showed that moderately elevated glucose levels increase the rate of complications in the baby before and after birth.
The last study compared the long-term effects of blood glucose in mothers with gestational diabetes and those who did not.
Metzger's team found that the adverse effects of even moderately elevated blood glucose levels extend to the mother and to the child for more than ten years.
Among women with high blood glucose during pregnancy, almost 11% had type 2 diabetes 10 to 14 years after childbirth and about 42% had prediabetes, according to the results.
Among women who did not have high blood glucose during pregnancy, about 2% had type 2 diabetes and just over 18% were prediabetic at follow-up.
In total, nearly 4,700 mothers have been tested for type 2 diabetes, prediabetes or other problems related to blood sugar.
In addition, the researchers studied more than 4,800 children who were overweight and obese. The investigators found that 19% of children born to mothers with high blood glucose were obese, compared with 10% of children of mothers with normal blood glucose.
However, the study did not show that high blood sugar levels during pregnancy resulted in increased health risks for these women and their children.
Previous research has shown that a healthy lifestyle – weight control and regular physical activity – can dramatically reduce the development of diabetes in women who already had gestational diabetes, Metzger said.
"It is important that all pregnant women be tested to identify people with gestational diabetes and that those who suffer from them should be treated during pregnancy." Mothers and children have good reason to maintain a healthy lifestyle while at the same time. their life. "
Dr. Noelia Zork, a specialist in maternal and fetal medicine at the Irving Medical Center in New York-Presbyterian-Columbia University, New York, said pregnant women with gestational diabetes need to continue managing their blood glucose and changing their mood. of life. risk of type 2 diabetes.
"I want to let my patients with gestational diabetes know about their GP and follow up every year for a diabetes test," she said.
Zork also stated that infants exposed to high levels of sugar in the uterus may experience changes in the way their organs grow, permanently altering the way they handle food, which predisposes them to Obesity during childhood.
"In addition, obese women are more likely to have an obese and obese child in adulthood," she added. "Having gestational diabetes in addition to obesity increases that risk even more."
Zork believes that the prevention of gestational diabetes begins before pregnancy.
"Whenever I see a woman planning a pregnancy, one of the things I'm talking about is her weight, so if she's overweight or obese, let's try to lose maybe 5% of her weight before to be pregnant, "Zork said.
Women need to be in the best possible shape to ensure a healthy pregnancy for themselves and their baby, she explained.
The report was published on 11 September in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
More information
The American Diabetes Association has more about gestational diabetes.
SOURCES: Boyd Metzger, M.D., Emeritus Professor, Medicine, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago; Noelia Zork, MD, Specialist in Maternal and Fetal Medicine, New York-Presbyterian-Columbia University Irving Medical Center, New York; September 11, 2018, Journal of the American Medical Association
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