Gestational Diabetes
Did you know that if you are pregnant you are at risk for one form diabetes? Women who are pregnant, and who have never had diabetes, can develop what is called gestational diabetes if their blood sugar levels become high. In fact, statistics show that approximately 4% or 135,000 women who are pregnant get this form of diabetes each year. And although medical research has not come up with the exact reasons why these women get this disease, they do have a few ideas.
When a baby is still in the womb, they get what they need for development from the hormones in the placenta. However, these same hormones also cause the mother’s insulin to be blocked off. This is called insulin resistance. And the result of this is that the mothers’ body has a harder time using the insulin, and therefore would need up to three times the amount for it to do its job.
What they have found is that gestational diabetes begins at this point because the mothers’ body is unable to produce that triple amount that it needs. And without the proper amount, her blood sugar is not able to clear out of the blood in order to be converted to energy. The mother will then become hyperglycemic when the blood sugar levels become too high. This process usually begins later on in the pregnancy just as the baby has grown a bit.
In most cases, because the mother did not have diabetes prior to her pregnancy, you will find that the baby does not develop any birth defects as a result. However, if the mother does not get proper treatment for her gestational diabetes, then the disease can cause problems for the baby. What’s more, these health issues caused by this can follow that baby into adulthood.
When you body does not get enough insulin, you pancreas will work harder to produce the extra insulin needed. And when a mother has excess blood sugar, it will go through her blood stream and into her placenta. At this point the baby then begins to get too much blood sugar, and its pancreas will respond do that and make extra insulin. The extra insulin then gets turned into energy, and because the baby does not need that much its body will turn that energy into fat, causing many problems.
For example, the baby could develop what is called ‘fat’ baby, or macrosomia. Also, because of the build up of insulin, the baby may then develop low blood sugar which can cause breathing problems at birth as well as a higher risk for obesity as a child, and type 2 diabetes as an adult. However, although these scenarios are all quite frightening, there are ways to prevent it.
One of the first ways to prevent these issues from happening is to keep regular scheduled check-ups during your pregnancy. Early detection is the key so that treatment can be started as soon as possible. And the treatment itself will be geared towards keeping the mothers blood glucose levels on the same level as a healthy pregnant woman.
The way in which this is done is through specially planned meals as well as regular physical activity. Also included with this treatment may be daily testing of her blood sugar levels and even insulin injections. Keeping your medical team informed of any changes in your health will also be important so that they can change your treatment if the need is there. In addition, treatment is very important in cases where a natural birth is preferred.
Furthermore, although gestational diabetes generally disappears after the pregnancy is over, the mother will still be a higher risk, 2 out of 3 to be exact, for getting gestational diabetes in future pregnancies. What’s more, there are some women that become diagnosed with type 1 or type 2 diabetes when pregnant. In these cases, it is often hard to know whether it is gestational diabetes, or if the women just started showing signs of the more serious forms at pregnancy. And for these women, treatment for diabetes will continue on after pregnancy.
And finally, studies show that women who get gestational diabetes may develop type 2 diabetes in the future because the two are linked with similar causes. Or in other words, both gestational diabetes and type 2 diabetes entail insulin resistance. However, like with most preventative measures where diabetes is concerned, the risk for developing type 2 diabetes can be lowered with the correct lifestyle changes.
Eating healthier means eating a variety of fruits and vegetables, at the levels needed, decreasing fat to 30%, and eating normal healthy portions. Also, adding a regime of regular exercise will help you burn off any excess energy built up in your body. The result of this is fighting off insulin resistance.