Type 2 Diabetes - Is There a Connection Between Gestational Diabetes and Heart Disease?
Women who have had Gestational diabetes, the kind of diabetes that can appear during pregnancy, are at increased risk of developing Type 2 diabetes following delivery of their baby.
Having Type 2 diabetes in itself puts them at higher risk of heart disease, and investigators set out to discover whether women with a history of Gestational diabetes could be at an increased risk of a type of heart disease called coronary artery disease.
The coronary arteries are located in the heart and feed oxygen-laden blood to the heart muscle.
To conduct blood the arteries need to have plenty of space inside their walls.
Researchers looked at the amount of space inside the walls of coronary arteries and compared them to those of women with the Metabolic Syndrome and healthy women.
This particular study was published in July 2012 in the journal Cardiovascular Diabetology, and included:
According to an article published in Science Daily in 2011, the problem of heart disease after Gestational diabetes could be particularly great in Hispanic women.
A study completed at Massachusetts General Hospital and reported at the 93rd Annual Meeting of the Endocrine Society in Boston, showed that Hispanic women with a history of diabetes during pregnancy were 70 per cent more likely to suffer heart disease than other Hispanic women.
Black women with a history of Gestational diabetes also had an increased risk of heart disease, although to a lesser extent.
All pregnant women have some degree of sugar intolerance due to hormonal changes.
The pancreas normally increases insulin levels to compensate.
Blood sugar levels can go up when increased levels of insulin are inadequate, and Gestational diabetes results.
Two in three women over the age of 20 are overweight or obese, which puts them at risk for diabetes during pregnancy.
Before pregnancy, it would be ideal for women to have a body mass index (BMI) of 25 or lower.
Weight gain during pregnancy should be monitored and women are advised to not gain more weight than is recommended by their doctor or midwife.
Eating plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables and avoiding high fat foods such as meat and dairy products, plus light exercise, can help to prevent Gestational diabetes and keep down the risk of coronary artery disease.
Having Type 2 diabetes in itself puts them at higher risk of heart disease, and investigators set out to discover whether women with a history of Gestational diabetes could be at an increased risk of a type of heart disease called coronary artery disease.
The coronary arteries are located in the heart and feed oxygen-laden blood to the heart muscle.
To conduct blood the arteries need to have plenty of space inside their walls.
Researchers looked at the amount of space inside the walls of coronary arteries and compared them to those of women with the Metabolic Syndrome and healthy women.
This particular study was published in July 2012 in the journal Cardiovascular Diabetology, and included:
- 79 women with a history of Gestational diabetes,
- 30 women with the Metabolic syndrome, and
- 60 healthy women.
According to an article published in Science Daily in 2011, the problem of heart disease after Gestational diabetes could be particularly great in Hispanic women.
A study completed at Massachusetts General Hospital and reported at the 93rd Annual Meeting of the Endocrine Society in Boston, showed that Hispanic women with a history of diabetes during pregnancy were 70 per cent more likely to suffer heart disease than other Hispanic women.
Black women with a history of Gestational diabetes also had an increased risk of heart disease, although to a lesser extent.
All pregnant women have some degree of sugar intolerance due to hormonal changes.
The pancreas normally increases insulin levels to compensate.
Blood sugar levels can go up when increased levels of insulin are inadequate, and Gestational diabetes results.
Two in three women over the age of 20 are overweight or obese, which puts them at risk for diabetes during pregnancy.
Before pregnancy, it would be ideal for women to have a body mass index (BMI) of 25 or lower.
Weight gain during pregnancy should be monitored and women are advised to not gain more weight than is recommended by their doctor or midwife.
Eating plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables and avoiding high fat foods such as meat and dairy products, plus light exercise, can help to prevent Gestational diabetes and keep down the risk of coronary artery disease.
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