gestational diabetes
Sign in to savecondition in which a woman without diabetes develops high blood sugar levels during pregnancy
Key facts
- Other names
- Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM)
- Specialty
- Obstetrics and endocrinology
- Symptoms
- Typically few symptoms
- Complications
- Pre-eclampsia , stillbirth , depression, increased risk of requiring a caesarean section
- Usual onset
- Most common last three months of pregnancy
- Causes
- Not enough insulin in the setting of insulin resistance
- Risk factors
- Overweight , previously having gestational diabetes, family history of type 2 diabetes, polycystic ovarian syndrome
- Diagnostic method
- Screening blood tests
- Prevention
- Maintaining a healthy weight and exercising before pregnancy
- Treatment
- Diabetic diet , exercise, insulin injections
- Frequency
- ~6% of pregnancies
via Wikipedia infobox
Research
38,682 papers- Gestational Diabetes: Overview with Emphasis on Medical Management.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2020
- ACOG Practice Bulletin No. 190: Gestational Diabetes Mellitus.Obstetrics and gynecology · 2018
- Diagnosis and Treatment of Hyperglycemia in Pregnancy: Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus and Gestational Diabetes.Endocrinology and metabolism clinics of North America · 2024
- Postpartum glucose intolerance following early gestational diabetes mellitus.American journal of obstetrics & gynecology MFM · 2022
- Gestational Diabetes: Diagnosis, Classification, and Clinical Care.Obstetrics and gynecology clinics of North America · 2017
via PubMed
Article
Gestational diabetes is a condition in which an individual without diabetes develops high blood sugar levels during pregnancy. Gestational diabetes generally results in few symptoms. Obesity increases the rate of pre-eclampsia, cesarean sections, and embryo macrosomia, as well as gestational diabetes. Babies born to individuals with poorly treated gestational diabetes are at increased risk of macrosomia, of having hypoglycemia after birth, and of jaundice. If untreated, diabetes can also result in stillbirth. Long term, children are at higher risk of being overweight and of developing type 2 diabetes.
Gestational diabetes can occur during pregnancy because of insulin resistance or reduced production of insulin. Risk factors include being overweight, previously having gestational diabetes, a family history of type 2 diabetes, and having polycystic ovarian syndrome. Diagnosis is by blood tests. For those at normal risk, screening is recommended between 24 and 28 weeks' gestation. For those at high risk, testing may occur at the first prenatal visit.