The Prevalence Of Gestational Diabetes

Along with all the worries and complications a woman might face while pregnant, one of the more serious conditions is gestational diabetes. Gestational diabetes occurs in 4% of all pregnancies (Seibel, 2009). Many women are not informed about the disease, some may not know that they need to be tested, and others may have heard about it, but want more information on what may cause it and/or how to prevent and treat it. Either way this disease needs to be taken seriously by every pregnant woman or woman planning to get pregnant to protect not only herself but the unborn child.

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

As the years go by, society starts to progress and develop many fast and easy solutions for everything. Not only are the easy solutions being created but the cost of living is increasing making people to work harder and later and not have time to have a healthy lifestyle. Fast foods are everywhere you go and not only is it fast it is also cheap making it harder to get a decent healthy meal. Due to society changing so much, diabetes is on the rise. What is diabetes? Diabetes is several diseases that are characterized by high levels of glucose that are the results of the insulin action or production. “The term diabetes mellitus describes a metabolic disorder of multiple aetiology characterized by chronic hyperglycaemia with disturbances of carbohydrate, fat and protein metabolism resulting from defects in insulin secretion, insulin action, or both.” (CDC) If diabetes is not taken seriously, it can have severe damages that include organ failures or damages and even death.

Unlike type 1 and 2 diabetes, gestational diabetes isn’t permanent. It affects women when they are pregnant and usually ends after the baby is delivered (1, 8). The main causes of gestational diabetes are damage to insulin producing cells, resistance to insulin and genetic heredity. Also, it is believed that women that get gestational diabetes will have a higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes (1, 8).

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.

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

There are two types of diabetes that occur not due to pregnancy: Type 1 and Type 2. Type 1, also known as “insulin dependent” and “juvenile” diabetes occurs because of a genetic hiccup in which the pancreas’ beta cells can’t properly create and distribute insulin, causing the individual to have to take injections. The second type of diabetes, Type 2, occurs when the body can’t make enough insulin for adequate function of the body, albeit from age or weight. In this type of diabetes insulin injections are less common (although can still be prescribed depending), which is why the main focus and recommendations will be based on Type 1 diabetic mothers.

This is a condition where the mother develops diabetes (mainly seen as high blood sugar) during pregnancy.She may not have been diabetic before pregnancy and the condition usually abates during pregnancy. According to the Center for disease Control and Prevention (CDC), gestational diabetes affects up to 1 out of 10 pregnant women in the US. In a recent review, up to 13.9% of Pregnant Nigerian women in Urban places were found to have diabetes. Most of them had risk factors which accounted for the high prevalence.

Almost all women have some degree of impaired glucose intolerance as a result of hormonal changes that occur during pregnancy. That means that their blood sugar may be higher than normal, but not high enough to have diabetes. During the later part of pregnancy (the third trimester), these hormonal changes place pregnant woman at risk for gestational diabetes.

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.

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.

While most people know of the two main forms of diabetes, there are other forms of the disease that affect humans. The disease can give a warning to youngsters who are at risk of catching it, the recognition of which would push back the onset by a wide margin. Pregnant women can also develop diabetes during their term, which, if left unchecked, would lead to health problems in the baby. Besides complications during birth, the child has an increased chance of getting fat and also an increased chance of developing type 2 diabetes. These two unfamiliar forms of the disease are known as gestational diabetes and pre-diabetes.

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