Gestational Diabetes Mellitus : An Overview

Gestational diabetes is a disorder characterized by impaired ability to metabolize carbohydrates, usually caused by a deficiency of insulin resistance, occurring in

Most pregnancies progress with the mother being healthy, however in some cases problems do arise with the mother developing complications. This can in the form of gestational diabetes. Mothers who didn’t have diabetes prior to pregnancy exhibit high blood sugar levels, in most cases this is during the later stages of pregnancy, this could lead to pre-eclampsia and babies could be born with higher birth weights. If left unchecked mothers can develop type 2 diabetes post pregnancy.

Amanda manages her gestational diabetes with diet. She experiences a few episodes of postprandial hyperglycemia, but does not have to go on insulin. At her 36-week

It is estimated that 387 million people, globally live with diabetes (Phillips & Mehl, 2015). According to Medical News Today [MNT], diabetes is a metabolic disorder; which causes patients to be extremely thirsty and produce a lot of urine. Diabetes arises due to high blood pressure, due to the body not being able to produce enough insulin or because the body does not respond well to high insulin levels (MNT, 2016). There are four types of diabetes; there is the pre-diabetic stage, type 1 diabetes, type 2 diabetes and gestational diabetes. In 2014, 29 million people died due to diabetes. This equates to 1 diabetic patient dying every seven seconds due to preventable complications (including complications affecting lower limbs) caused by diabetes. It is said that 20-40% of health care costs are spent on the treatment of lower limb complications due to diabetes. The risk of a diabetic patient developing a foot ulcer is 25% and foot ulcers account approximately 85% of lower limb amputations. Diabetic complications that affect lower limbs are caused by both type 1 and type 2 diabetes (Phillips & Mehl, 2015). It is said that the World Health Organization described diabetic foot syndrome as including all possible complications in relation to the feet of a diabetic patient. Diabetic foot syndrome is defined as the ulceration of the foot, from the ankle downwards. Causes of foot ulceration include peripheral sensory neuropathy, vascular disease (ischaemia) and infection

Diabetes comes in multiple forms: type 1, or diabetes insipidus; type 2, or diabetes mellitus; or gestational, which occurs during pregnancy and may be either type 1 or type 2. Diabetes is a metabolic disease where the person has high blood glucose. (Blood glucose is also know was blood sugar.) When the person has high blood sugar it’s either because the insulin result is insufficient, or the body’s cells don’t respond to the insulin like it should, or both can happen. There are different types of diabetes. They are type 1 diabetes, type 2 diabetes, and gestational diabetes. Type 1 occurs when the body doesn’t produce insulin; type 2 is occurs when the body’s receptor cells no longer accept the insulin produced by the body’s pancreas. Gestational diabetes affects women that are pregnant. [What is Diabetes? (n.d.)]. There are symptoms of the different types of diabetes. The type 1 diabetes symptoms are increased thirst, increased hunger, dry mouth, frequent urination, unexplained weight loss, fatigue, and blurred vison. The type 2 diabetes symptoms are slow-healing sores or cuts, itching of the skin, yeast infections, recent weight gain, numbness or tingling of the hands and feet, and impotence or erectile dysfunction. Gestational diabetes often doesn’t have symptoms, however if they do they are increased thirst, increased urination, increased hunger, and blurred vison. Some of these symptoms are very similar to each other. [Diabetes Causes and Types: Pre-Diabetes, Types 1

4). There are two major types of diabetes mellitus, type 1 and type 2, and gestational diabetes is a third type that could occur during pregnancy. Type 2 diabetes mellitus is the more common of the three types, attributing tor around 95 percent of new cases of diabetes (Prezbindowski & Porth, 2005 pg. 1309 para. 1). Diabetes mellitus is caused by one’s body having trouble breaking down foods they eat to convert to energy due to an inefficient supply of insulin or an inability to use insulin effectively. The source of the problem derives from beta cells located in the pancreas. These cells are special for their production of insulin and response to it. If there is a problem with the beta cells in the pancreas, then their inefficient supply and absorption of insulin results to an increased amount of glucose in the blood stream that cannot be absorbed sufficiently which leads to a diabetic condition. If one may suspect diabetes mellitus as a health condition they are experiencing, there are common signs and symptoms that are associated with the disease.

Diabetes is a disease in which the body does not produce enough insulin to regulate blood sugar properly, or becomes resistant to the effects of insulin, also causing blood sugar to rise. High blood sugar is characteristic of diabetes. People who have diabetes have to take insulin shots or supplements in order to give their body enough insulin to regulate blood sugar. There are three main types of diabetes: Type 1 diabetes, Type 2 diabetes, and gestational diabetes. In Type 1 diabetes, the body does not produce enough insulin to regulate blood sugar. In Type 2 diabetes, the body is resistant to insulin, and so it allows blood sugar to rise to high levels (Winter 2002). Gestational diabetes is a temporary diabetes that develops in previously non-diabetic pregnant women and causes their blood sugar to rise during their pregnancy.

In gestational diabetes, this type of diabetes develops in women only during pregnancy. When a woman is pregnant there are a surge of varied hormones that are produced. These hormones sometimes lead to a pregnant woman developing resistance to the insulin just like the other two types of diabetes. It also comes about because the body cannot use the insulin that is produced, effectively. This usually affects a woman in her second trimester and goes away after the birth of the baby. Developing GD can put a woman at risk of developing type 2 diabetes later in her life or developing GD with every pregnancy that follows. It can also lead to certain health problems in their children like childhood obesity or the risk of developing diabetes in later life.

Diabetes mellitus is a disorder characterized by abnormalities in carbohydrate, protein, and fat metabolism. The most common feature seen in diabetes is increased blood glucose levels. The main reason for this is either a decreased/ absent insulin production or resistance of the body to the action of insulin or both.

RESEARCH ARTICLE: Rowan J., Gao W., Battin M., & Moore M. (2008). Metformin Vs. Insulin for the Treatment of Gestational Diabetes. The New England Journal of Medicine. 358(19):2003-2015.

Gestational diabetes is a disease that affects pregnant women it’s a glucose intolerance that is started or diagnosed during pregnancy. Based on recently announced diagnostic criteria for gestational diabetes, according to the American Diabetes Association, it is estimated that gestational diabetes affects 18% of pregnancies. Pregnancy hormones can block insulin therefore causing the glucose levels to increase in a pregnant woman’s blood. Gestational diabetes starts when your body is not able to make and use all the insulin it needs for pregnancy (American Diabetes Association). Without enough insulin, glucose cannot leave the blood and be changed to

Gestational Diabetes is a type of diabetes that develops during pregnancy due to elevated glucose levels. Complications of gestational diabetes include macrosomia, preterm labor, and respiratory distress. It can also lead to diabetes later in life for the mother. Normalizing blood sugars is an important way to prevent these complications and maintain a healthy pregnancy (Lowdermilk 2014). In a research study of pregnant women, it examined the outcomes of pregnancies if glucose testing was done continuously vs self-monitoring.

8.3 percent of Americans have a disease called diabetes mellitus, also known as diabetes. It is characterized by high blood sugar, brought on either because the pancreas is not producing enough of a hormone called insulin, which helps remove glucose from the blood, or because the cells are unresponsive to the insulin that is being produced. Three symptoms that result from this high blood sugar are polyuria, or frequent urination, polydipsia, or increased thirst, and polyphagia, or increased appetite. When the body cannot produce insulin, this is called type 1 diabetes. People with this type of diabetes usually have to inject insulin or wear an insulin pump. In contrast, when cells simply cannot use insulin correctly, the patient has type 2 diabetes. This is usually treated by increasing exercise or making adjustments to the diet, which should lower blood sugar. Finally, a third type of diabetes called gestational diabetes occurs only in pregnant women. These women have not been previously diagnosed with diabetes, rather, they have developed high blood sugar during their pregnancy. If not effectively treated by making changes to the diet, gestational diabetes can be a precursor to type 2 diabetes as well as childhood obesity and eventual diabetes in the infant.

Between 5.5 and 8.8% of pregnant women develop GDM in Australia. Risk factors for GDM include a family history of diabetes, increasing maternal age, obesity and being a member of a community or ethnic group with a high risk of developing type 2 diabetes. While the carbohydrate intolerance usually returns to normal after the birth, the mother has a significant risk of developing permanent diabetes while the baby is more likely to develop obesity and impaired glucose tolerance and/or diabetes later in life. Self-care and dietary changes are essential in treatment.

Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) is an intolerance of glucose documented for the first time during pregnancy. It is usually a short-term type of diabetes and the most common health problem with pregnant women. GBM is caused by the way the hormones in pregnancy affect the mother. GDM accounts for 5-7% of all pregnancies (American Diabetes Association, 2010). During pregnancy the placenta develops and becomes the main bond between the mother and the baby. It is used to make sure the baby has and gets enough nutrients. The placenta makes several hormones which make it hard for insulin to control blood glucose and block the action of the mother’s insulin in her body (American Diabetes Association, 2010). Hormonal changes during the