Diabetes Common After Pregnancy-related Diabetes

May 6, 2004

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Diabetes that develops during pregnancy normally clears up after delivery. Nowadays, however, full-blown diabetes often develops in women with previous so-called gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM), according to a new study.

This appears to be the result of a substantial increase in body weight among women with GDM.

In a study published in the medical journal Diabetes Care, Dr. Jeannet Lauenborg, of Copenhagen University Hospital, in Denmark, and colleagues examined the incidence of diabetes among Danish women with previous GDM. They also assessed risk factors for the development of diabetes.

The researchers studied 241 women with diet-treated GDM during 1978 to 1985 (old cohort) and 512 with GDM between 1987 and 1996 (new cohort). A total of 481 women were followed for an average of almost 10 years after their pregnancy.

By the end of follow-up, diabetes was present in 192 (40 percent) of the participants while another 130 (27.0 percent) had impaired glucose tolerance, Lauenborg and colleagues report.

Diabetes developed in 41 percent of the new cohort, compared with only 18 percent of the old cohort.

Pre-pregnancy body mass index (weight related to height) was significantly higher in the new cohort compared with the old cohort, the team found.

"Women with previous GDM represent a target group for intervention to postpone or prevent the development of overt diabetes," the authors conclude.

SOURCE: Diabetes Care, May 2004.