What Is Gestational Diabetes - Causes, Symptoms And Treatment

Gestational diabetes is the type of diabetes that a pregnant woman suffers from

. Although this type of diabetes can cause complications during pregnancy, it is very much manageable and it affects roughly 4% of women. Moreover, this type of diabetes usually disappears after childbirth.

Gestational diabetes occurs when the mother cannot produce the required insulin needed to support her pregnancy. The main causes of this type of diabetes are still unclear to doctors. What we know is that the hormones that are presented in the mother's placenta, which help the baby to develop, can sometimes cause insulin resistance within the mother. This means that it would be much harder for the mother to produce insulin. There are serious cases where mothers are required to administer triple doses of insulin to control the blood glucose level.

Although this condition is still not fully understood, studies have found some risk factors that could increase the chances of one developing gestational diabetes. These risk factors include genetics and family history, obesity, age 25 or older have increased chances, pre-diabetes diagnosis, aka impaired glucose tolerance and race factor. Researches have found that most races except Caucasian have higher chances. It is still unclear as to this includes people from purely African descent, but African Americans are at risk.

It is not easy to identify gestational diabetes as the symptoms are not obvious. Instead, doctors would determine your chances by using the risk factors analysis. This means that mothers who are identified to be high risk would be tested during the first prenatal check. Those with average risk would be tested somewhere around the 25th week of pregnancy. Those with low risks do not usually get checked, although it is still best to request at least one check to be done somewhere along the fourth month into your pregnancy.

The treatment for this type of diabetes mainly revolves around diet, since there are currently no hard-and-fast cures available. Mothers have to make certain lifestyle adjustments such as to make sure that their diet is healthy and to exercise regularly. Doctors would usually provide a specific meal plan, especially if you have other complications involved. Unless your condition is serious, your doctor might advise regular sugar level monitoring and insulin administration. If not, keeping to a healthy diet and active lifestyle would be sufficient.

If this condition is not treated, it may lead to complications such as low blood glucose level during birth. The baby can also experience difficulty in breathing and jaundice, a condition where the baby's skin is yellowish due to underdeveloped liver inability to process the wasted blood cells properly. Macrosomia, a condition where the baby develops to more than 10 pounds can also happen.

Leading a healthy and active lifestyle would be the best method to prevent gestational diabetes. While you cannot do anything about race and family history of the condition, you can do your best to keep in shape. Obesity plays a huge part in determining the chances of developing gestational diabetes, and if you can at least remove this risk factor, there is a good 30% lesser chance of you getting this condition.

by: Jared Wright

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