Causes of Gestational Diabetes and Treatment of Gestational Diabetes

02 Jul

Posted by admin as diabetes

What is gestational diabetes?

Pregnant women who have never had diabetes before but who have high blood sugar (glucose) levels during pregnancy are said to have gestational diabetes. Gestational diabetes affects about 4% of all pregnant women - about 135,000 cases of gestational diabetes in the United States each year.

Gestational diabetes affects between 1% to 3% of all pregnant women. It usually develops in the second trimester (sometimes as early as the 20th week of pregnancy). Most often, gestational diabetes goes away after the baby is born.

What causes gestational diabetes?

Changing hormones and weight gain are part of a healthy pregnancy. But both changes make it hard for your body to keep up with its need for a hormone called insulin. When that happens, your body doesn’t get the energy it needs from the food you eat.

The placenta supplies a growing fetus with nutrients and water, as well as produces a variety of hormones to maintain the pregnancy. Some of these hormones (estrogen, cortisol, and human placental lactogen) can have a blocking effect on insulin, which usually begins about 20 to 24 weeks into the pregnancy.

Stress does not cause diabetes, although it may be a trigger for the body turning against itself, as in type 1 diabetes. But it does make the symptoms worse for people who already have diabetes.

Symptoms of Gestational Diabetes

Rarely, gestational diabetes may cause excessive thirst or increased urination. For most women, however, gestational diabetes doesn’t cause noticeable signs or symptoms.

Sometimes, a pregnant woman who has symptoms has been living with another type of diabetes without knowing it. If you have symptoms from another type of diabetes, they may include:

Nausea and vomiting

Frequent infections including those of the bladder, vagina, and skin

Blurred vision

Unusual tiredness or drowsiness

Tingling or numbness in the hands or feet

Frequent or recurring skin, gum, bladder or vaginal yeast infections

How is gestational diabetes diagnosed?

Gestational diabetes maybe diagnosed with a 50 gram glucose screening test, which involves drinking a glucose drink followed by measurement of blood sugar levels after one hour.

Treatment of Gestational Diabetes

Self monitoring of blood glucose levels

Insulin therapy, if necessary

Diet and exercise management

It has been reported that women who develop gestational diabetes have a greater chance of developing overt (Type II) diabetes later in life.

Taking insulin as prescribed

Urinary ketone testing, if needed

Regular blood pressure checks

Keep daily records of your diet, physical activity, and glucose level – Women with gestational diabetes should write down their blood sugar numbers, physical activity, and everything they eat and drink in a daily record book. This can help track how well the treatment is working and what, if anything, needs to be changed.

Women with gestational diabetes should note down their blood sugar level, physical activity, and everything she eats and drinks, in a daily record book. This can help track how well the treatment is working and what is to be done further to maintain the normal blood sugar level. Some women with gestational diabetes will also need to take insulin, to help manage their diabetes if blood sugar is shooting up in spite of all this. The extra insulin can help lower their blood sugar level.