(Ivanhoe Newswire) – Women who develop a form of diabetes associated with
pregnancy should continue receiving regular checkups for diabetes after they
give birth.
Why? Researchers who looked at the medical literature on gestational diabetes
found women who have the condition are about seven times more likely to develop
type 2 diabetes following the birth of their child. What’s more, the risk
continues throughout their lifetimes.
The British investigators explain gestational diabetes affects about one out of
every 20 pregnancies. While blood sugar control generally returns to normal
following the birth, the significantly increased risk for future development of
the disease seen in their meta-analysis calls for the utmost caution among
doctors who care for these women going forward.
Women themselves need to be aware of the risk as well, and be more vigilant
about coming in for regular check ups. For example, doctors recommend women with
gestational diabetes return for another diabetes check six weeks after giving
birth, but many fail to keep the appointment.
“The present task is to ensure that this information is disseminated to
clinicians and that the information is used to target prevention efforts to
those who have had gestational diabetes,” writes Dr. Rhonda Bentley-Lewis, from
Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston. “We as clinicians are afforded the rare
opportunity to alter the natural course of disease and change the future health
of women today.”
The meta-analysis included 20 studies involving around 675,000 women and nearly
11,000 of them developed gestational diabetes.
SOURCE: The Lancet, published online May 21, 2009
