Why some pregnant women develop diabetes
The hormones of pregnancy favor that the metabolism of sugars is modified so that nutrients are not lacking for either the mother or the baby. Sometimes these modifications come to produce a significant imbalance in them, causing the blood sugar level to increase inadequately. When an imbalance of t
The hormones of pregnancy favor that the metabolism of sugars is modified so that nutrients are not lacking for either the mother or the baby. Sometimes these modifications come to produce a significant imbalance in them, causing the blood sugar level to increase inadequately.
When an imbalance of this type occurs, diabetes can be generated. But in most cases, it is a diabetes linked to pregnancy, which disappears when you have the baby.
How to detect diabetes in pregnant women
It is very important to detect this situation at an early stage since it can be very harmful for both the mother and the baby. During pregnancy different tests are carried out in this regard. The first of these is the O'Sullivan test que, which is performed between week 24-28 in those women who do not have risk factors. In this test, 2 blood samples are taken, one on an empty stomach and the other 60 minutes after having ingested 50 grams of glucose. If the result of this test was not normal, another test would be performed, Oral Glucose Overload (SOG); with which, depending on your result, you would diagnose gestational diabetes.For those women who have risk factors, the test is done before in the first trimester of pregnancy. The most frequent risk factors for which it is recommended to perform the test in the first trimester of pregnancy are:
- Overweight prior to pregnancy.
- The pregnant woman has diabetic first degree relatives (parents or siblings fundamentally, since this disease has an important hereditary factor).
- The pregnant woman had diabetes in a previous pregnancy.
- This is a pregnant woman over 40 years old (the chances of gestational diabetes increase).
- Women with repeat abortions.
- Previous pregnancies with babies over 4000 g in weight.
How gestational diabetes affects the baby
For the baby, an inadequately high level of maternal blood sugar can produce:
- Cardiac malformations
- Alterations in the maturity of the lungs
- High weight - with its consequences for the baby childbirth-, among many others.
If the blood glucose control is adequate, the probability of having complications is minimized.
Truths and myths about gestational diabetes
- Mothers who have gestational diabetes are also followed by the doctor once they give birth, since they have a higher risk of developing diabetes in the future.
- However, it is important to banish the erroneous belief that gestational diabetes causes diabetes in babies ... Gestational diabetes is not transmissible
.- For the treatment of this pathology is used primarily diet and if this is not controlled, insulin. The practice of physical activity, such as walking with assiduity, has proven to be very useful for the adequate control of sugar figures.
