Gestational Diabetes Linked To Increased Risk Of Type 2 Diabetes

Women with gestational diabetes are at greater risk of developing type 2 diabetes, with almost 20% of women developing the condition within 9 years of pregnancy, found a large, population-based study of 659,000 women published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal.

The study, conducted by a group of researchers from the University of Toronto, Mount Sinai Hospital and the Institute for Clinical and Evaluative Sciences, looked at 21,823 women diagnosed with gestational diabetes and examined follow up records up to 9 years.

They found the rate of diabetes increased rapidly in the first 9 months after delivery, peaking at 9 years.

“In this large, population-based study, we found that diabetes developed within 9 years after the index pregnancy in 18.9% of women with previous gestational diabetes; this rate was much higher than the rate among women without gestational diabetes (2%),” state Dr. Denice Feig and coauthors.

As well, they note that the rate of gestational diabetes in Ontario, the study province, seems to be increasing and is linked to older mothers.

Living in low-income neighborhoods and in urban areas were also risk factors for gestational diabetes.

Higher urban statistics “may reflect the large numbers of South and East Asian and black populations living in urban areas, who have a higher risk of type 2 diabetes,” postulate Dr. Feig and colleagues.

Read more information at ScienceDaily