Diabetes in Pregnancy Hikes Risk for Metabolic Syndrome
Reported December 03, 2009
THURSDAY, Dec. 3 (HealthDay News) — Women who have gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) or gestational impaired glucose tolerance (GIGT) are at increased risk for developing metabolic syndrome after they deliver their infants, according to a study published online Nov. 19 in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism.
Ravi Retnakaran M.D., of Leadership Sinai Centre for Diabetes in Toronto, and colleagues analyzed data on 487 women who underwent oral glucose tolerance testing during pregnancy and metabolic evaluation three months after delivery. The women were placed in three groups based on the glucose testing in pregnancy: 1) those with GDM, 2) those with GIGT, and those with normal glucose tolerance (NGT). The primary outcome was metabolic syndrome, as defined by International Diabetes Federation (IDF) and the American Heart Association/National Heart Lung and Blood Institute (AHA/NHLBI) criteria.
Three months after delivery, the researchers found that the prevalence of metabolic syndrome was 10 percent in the NGT group, 17.6 percent in the GIGT group, and 20 percent in the GDM group by IDF criteria. Similar results were recorded for AHA/NHLBI criteria: NGT, 8.9 percent; GIGT, 15.4 percent; and GDM, 16.8 percent. In regression analysis, both GDM and GIGT were predictors of postpartum metabolic syndrome (odds ratios, 2.05 and 2.16, respectively).
“Both GDM and mild glucose intolerance in pregnancy predict an increased likelihood of metabolic syndrome at three-months postpartum, supporting the concept that women with gestational dysglycemia may have an underlying latent metabolic syndrome,” the authors write.
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