 Elevated blood sugar in pregnant women increases risks
Source: www.CTV.ca Date:Updated: 06/04/08
Pregnant women with elevated blood sugar have a greater risk of giving birth to babies with health risks similar to those born to women with gestational diabetes.
This
risk assessment applies to pregnant women who have higher than normal
blood sugar levels, but who are not considered to have diabetes, versus
women with normal blood sugar levels.
The researchers could not identify a specific blood-sugar level above
which the health problems were likely to occur. However, they did
notice that the risks increased in relation to a rise in the women's
blood sugar levels.
They found that, the higher the mother's blood sugar levels:
* the greater chance of a Caesarean-section delivery,
* the more likely the babies were to have high insulin levels and low blood sugar at birth,
* the more likely the mother was to develop preeclampsia (a
potentially lethal complication related to very high blood pressure),
* the more likely the baby was to be born prematurely,
* the more likely the baby was to experience shoulder dystocia.
When the researchers included other factors that might lead to these
complications, such as higher maternal age, obesity and high blood
pressure, high blood sugar levels still accounted for the increased
risks.
The new study was funded by the United States National Institutes of
Health (NIH), and included 23,000 women. The findings are published in
the New England Journal of Medicine.
"These important new findings highlight the risks of elevated blood
sugar levels during pregnancy," Dr. Duane Alexander, director of the
National Institutes of Health's Eunice Kennedy Shriver National
Institute of Child Health and Human Development, said in a statement.
"NIH-supported studies now in progress will provide guidance on how to
manage them. Until the results of those studies are available, all
pregnant women should consult a health-care professional about being
screened for diabetes during pregnancy."
It is well known that gestational diabetes, which occurs in some women
when they have difficulty transferring sugar from the blood to the
body's tissues, increases health risks for both mothers and babies.
Their children may also face greater health problems in adulthood, such
as obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure and heart disease.
Copyright 2007. All Rights Reserved.  |
Subscribe to this comment's feed