Using a meta-analysis of 25 reports from 23 high-income countries in North America, Europe, Australia and Asia, researchers have uncovered that high glucose levels in pregnant women were associated with higher risks of worse maternal and birth outcomes.
In a study published in The BMJ, the researchers showed that pregnant women need not have gestational diabetes for high glucose levels to lead to adverse outcomes like preeclampsia, overgrowth of the baby, shoulder dystocia and macrosomia.
Higher levels of fasting glucose had a stronger connection to overall risks of worse outcomes than levels after a glucose test. More specifically, risks increased more than twice for preeclampsia, overgrowth and macrosomia.
However, the researchers were not able to provide a glucose threshold that will delineate the boundaries above which a substantial increase in risk will result. They did cite levels set by a study from the International Association of Diabetes and Pregnancy panel, but these levels were defined as "arbitrary" because they were mainly focused on infant fat concentrations and future obesity risk.
Given there isn't a cutoff point established for which pregnant women are "at risk" and not "at risk" — just a clear idea that high glucose levels are dangerous for both mother and child — there may be a benefit to be derived from treating high glucose levels and diagnosed gestational diabetes in a similar manner.
What Is Gestational Diabetes?
Gestational diabetes is a health condition in pregnant women who have high levels of glucose, but have never been diagnosed with diabetes. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 9.2 percent of pregnant women have gestational diabetes.
It's not clear what leads to gestational diabetes, but the American Diabetes Association said it has to do with hormones in the placenta that block insulin action in the mother's body. Though beneficial to the baby, these hormones lead to insulin resistance, interfering with how the mother's body makes and uses insulin. Glucose builds up when there's not enough insulin because the hormone is necessary for the use of sugar as energy.
How To Treat Gestational Diabetes
Treating gestational diabetes always features specialized meals and regular physical activity so those will apply as well in treating high glucose levels. And where eating right and routine exercise are not enough to stabilize sugar levels in the blood, insulin injections may also be introduced.
It's important for treatment to start quickly and glucose levels to be monitored closely. Gestational diabetes typically goes away when the baby is born, but once a woman has had the condition, she has two out of three chances of getting it again in pregnancies in the future.
Sometimes type 1 or type 2 diabetes is also discovered during pregnancy. For these cases, diabetes treatment will have to continue after the pregnancy.
Photo: Thomas van de Weerd | Flickr
