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(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. Whats 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 Womens 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
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