Gestational diabetes: weight control is worth it
All content is checked by medical journalists.MunichAround three percent of all women lose their sugar metabolism during pregnancy. Most of the so-called gestational diabetes disappears after giving birth.However, many later develop type 2 diabetes. The risk increases with body weight.
The number of new cases of type 2 diabetes and gestational diabetes is increasing at a similar rate worldwide. One of the reasons for this is that the same risk factors apply to both forms of the disease: unhealthy and excessive nutrition, obesity and lack of exercise. Dr. Wei Bao and his colleagues at the American National Health Institute wanted to know whether there was another connection.
To do this, they used data from a large study that looked specifically at the health of women after gestational diabetes. 1,700 of them had regularly completed questionnaires over a period of 18 years in which they provided information about their weight, diabetes diagnoses and their lifestyle.
Every sixth woman developed diabetes
Almost every sixth woman developed type 2 diabetes during the study period. It was striking how much the risk increased with body weight. Statistically, with every BMI point by 16 percent. While 3.5 women developed diabetes on average among women of normal weight (BMI up to 25), it was just under 56 among extremely obese (BMI over 40).
But not only the initial weight was related to a possible diabetes disease, but also how much the women put on after giving birth. Compared to a woman with a BMI below 25 who was largely able to maintain her weight, the likelihood of diabetes for obese mothers (BMI over 30) who put on at least five kilograms increased by a factor of 43. This calculation recorded the weight two years after the diagnosis of gestational diabetes and the last known weight before the diagnosis of type 2 diabetes.
Pay attention to the line
The relationship remained almost unchanged even when the researchers excluded other risk factors such as age, familial diabetes cases or dietary habits from the analysis. This is precisely why it is so important that women pay attention to their line before, during and after childbirth, the scientists conclude - especially if they have suffered from gestational diabetes.
Same risk factors
Gestational diabetes is a special form of diabetes that can develop during pregnancy. It usually occurs in the last trimester of pregnancy and disappears immediately after birth. The disease is one of the most common pregnancy-accompanying diseases. Mostly overweight women and pregnant women whose families have already developed type 2 or gestational diabetes are affected. (lh)
Source: Wei Bao et al. Long-term risk of type 2 diabetes mellitus in relation to BMI and weight change among women with a history of gestational diabetes mellitus: a prospective cohort study; Diabetologia; June 2015, Volume 58, Issue 6, pp 1212-1219
Tags: hospital alcohol drugs prevention
