Pregnancy and Health Care

Posts Tagged ‘Diabetes and Pregnancy’

Diabetes and obesity, require monitoring during pregnancy. A recent study by the University of Washington in Seattle reveals that mothers who are obese or have diabetes during pregnancy are more likely to have children with chronic kidney disease (CKD). Their findings raise the possibility that tighter control of diabetes and weight control during pregnancy may decrease the risk of children developing CKD.

The study involved over 4,000 patients with CKD child, diagnosed at age 21 or earlier, in the state of Washington. These patients were compared with more than 20,000 healthy children to evaluate the possible relationship between a pregnant woman with diabetes, obesity or overweight, and the risk of your baby develop CKD at some point in their childhood, childhood or adolescence.

The overall rate of CKD in the younger ages was approximately 0.26%, about one case per 400 births. When the researchers adjusted the length of gestation, the risk of CKD was 69% higher in children whose mothers had diabetes before pregnancy. In the case of children whose mothers developed diabetes during the gestation period was 28% higher risk of CKD. Children of obese mothers showed a 22% increase in the risk of CKD.

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Diabetes is a disease that is characterized by concentrations of sugar (glucose) in the blood very high. It occurs when our body does not produce enough insulin or when you can not use it properly. Insulin is a hormone produced by the pancreas which enables the body to convert blood sugar into energy or stored as fat. If not dealt with properly, can be damaged: the heart, blood vessels, nerves, eyes, kidneys, among other organs.

Gestational diabetes is one that affects pregnant women who have never had diabetes but who have high glucose levels during pregnancy. Of 100 women, five are at risk of developing such disease. Usually detected between weeks 24 to 28 of pregnancy and the absolute majority of cases, disappears as soon as delivery occurs. However, it is recommended to continue with regular checkups, because that has been seen has a greater presence of type 2 diabetes over time in these women.

It is unclear why there was to be the presence of diabetes in these women. It is thought that increased production of hormones from the placenta during fetal development could generate the problem. These hormones will probably block the production of insulin in the mother’s body, producing a resistance to it, making it difficult for the mother’s body use insulin to process glucose necessary. This causes an increase in levels of blood sugar.

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