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Gestational diabetes marker for later diabetes development
Gestational diabetes may be a marker for diabetes development later in life because similar risk factors are shared between the two, study results indicate.
The risk for diabetes may be reduced in women with gestational diabetes by eliminating some risk factors, researchers wrote.
Min-Jeong Oh, MD, PhD, of the department of obstetrics and gynecology at Korea University Guro Hospital, Korea University College of Medicine in Korea, and colleagues evaluated data from the National Health Insurance Corporation on 53,109 women who underwent a National Health Screening Examination between 2002 and 2003, with their first delivery in 2004 and follow-up until 2012. Researchers sought to pinpoint prepregnancy risk factors for the development of diabetes in women with or without gestational diabetes during their first pregnancy. Follow-up was conducted for 8 years.
The overall incidences of diabetes development were 8.4% in participants with gestational diabetes and 3.3% in those without gestational diabetes.
Participants with gestational diabetes and at least one of six prepregnancy risk factors (old age, family history of diabetes, obesity, hypertension, high fasting glucose levels and high total cholesterol levels) had the highest incidence of diabetes development.
Compared with women without gestational diabetes or prepregnancy risk factors, participants with gestational diabetes or prepregnancy risk factors had a higher cumulative incidence of diabetes (P < .05). Participants with gestational diabetes and four or more prepregnancy risk factors had the highest diabetes incidence. There was no significant difference in diabetes incidence in participants with gestational diabetes alone compared with participants with two prepregnancy risk factors. The risk for diabetes development was linked to the development of diabetes in participants with and without gestational diabetes.
“[Gestational diabetes] may be a marker for development of [diabetes] in the future, since it shares the same risk factors (BMI, systolic BP, elevated fasting blood glucose) with [diabetes],” the researchers wrote. “On the other hand, the cumulative incidence of type 2 [diabetes] in women with [gestational diabetes] alone did not differ significantly from that in women with only two prepregnancy risk factors. Thus, eliminating other risk factors in women with [gestational diabetes] may lead to a reduction in the risk of future [diabetes].” – by Amber Cox
Disclosure: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.