Gestational diabetes link to future risk

Wednesday January 17th, 2018

Having gestational diabetes may be linked to increased risk of future cardiovascular disease, new research is showing.

Dr Krish Nirantharakumar, of the University of Birmingham, UK, and colleagues looked at the outcomes for more than 9,000 women diagnosed with gestational diabetes mellitus between 1990 and 2016.

Analysis suggested that these women were more than 20 times as likely to be diagnosed with type 2 diabetes later in life than unaffected women - and were over two and a half times more likely to develop ischemic heart disease and almost twice as likely to develop hypertension.

Full findings were published yesterday (16 January) in PLoS Medicine.

Dr Nirantharakumar states: "Results showed women diagnosed with gestational diabetes mellitus were significantly more likely to develop hypertension and ischemic heart disease at a relatively young age compared with women without a previous diagnosis of gestational diabetes mellitus in addition to the established risk of developing diabetes.

"The risk was greatest for type 2 diabetes in the first year following diagnosis of gestational diabetes mellitus and persisted throughout the follow-up period."

Commenting on the research, Dr Barbara Daly of the University of Auckland, New Zealand, pointed out that the rate of gestational diabetes mellitus is increasing rapidly in most developed countries.

"Guideline recommendations for screening and management of hypertension, lipids and smoking cessation are lacking and need to be reviewed," she believes. "Although the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (nice) guidelines recommend annual screening for type 2 diabetes in women diagnosed with gestational diabetes mellitus, this study found follow-up screening was poor for type 2 diabetes and other cardiovascular risk

Daly, B. et al. Increased risk of ischemic heart disease, hypertension and type 2 diabetes in women with previous gestational diabetes mellitus - a target group in general practice for preventive interventions: A population-based cohort study. PLoS Medicine 16 January 2018; doi: 10.1371/journal.pmed.1002488 [abstract]

Tags: Childbirth and Pregnancy | Diabetes | Nursing & Midwifery | UK News | Women's Health & Gynaecology

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