Gestational Diabetes Can Be Predicted Years Before Pregnancy

According to a recent research report, predicting diabetes in pregnancy is possible years before a pregnancy. In the study the partcipants were 199 women with gestational diabetes and 381 controls. They all had health check ups and were screened between 1984-1996 for: 1-Heart disease 2-Diabetes 3-Cancer They also all subsequently became pregnant. The reseachers found that it is possible to determine women who are at risk for gestational diabetes by as much as 7 years before a pregnancy. The risk for gestational diabetes rose with the number or risk factors linked to diabetes and heart disease, they include risk factors such as: -Obesity -Hypergylcemia -Pre-hypertension -Hypertension -High blood cholesterol The researchers found that overweight/ obese women and women with mild high blood sugar prior to pregnancy were strongly linked to gestational diabetes. The result of the study mean that women with these risk factors can plan to prevent gestational diabetes later on, should there be a pregnancy.