Gestational diabetes can develop into type 2 diabetes after pregnancy

Gestational diabetes is a type of diabetes that only occurs during a woman’s pregnancy, although data shows that it can turn into type 2 diabetes after a person gives birth.

Your body needs glucose for energy, but too much glucose in the blood is not good for a baby. If you have blood sugar that is too high then you have diabetes. Gestational diabetes is typically diagnosed during the late stages of a pregnancy. Those who are diagnosed early in their pregnancy may in fact have had the medical problem before they even became pregnant.

Research shows that up to 20 percent of pregnant women suffer from gestational diabetes. Furthermore, studies suggest people with gestational diabetes are seven times more likely to develop type 2 diabetes after their pregnancy. Regular screening is therefore important for women who have had gestational diabetes. If left unchecked, type 2 diabetes can lead to serious health complications, including renal failure, nerve damage, blindness, and heart disease.

Interestingly, a large study out of McGill University Health Centre in Montreal, Canada has shown that gestational diabetes not only signals future risk of diabetes in the mother, but the father as well. The study published in Diabetes Care states that a 33 percent greater occurrence of diabetes was found in men whose partner had gestational diabetes, compared to men whose partners did not have gestational diabetes. Previous studies have shown partners to be similar in their weight and physical activity. Additionally, other research has demonstrated that spousal diabetes was a diabetes risk factor.

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