Thousands Of Gestational Diabetes Cases Go Undetected, Study Says

Main Category: Diabetes
Also Included In: Pregnancy / Obstetrics;  Hypertension
Article Date: 23 Dec 2010 - 2:00 PDT


About one-third of pregnant women in the U.S. are not screened for gestational diabetes, according to a study of nearly one million pregnant women published in the journal Obstetrics & Gynecology, USA Today reports. Women with gestational diabetes are more likely than other pregnant women to develop pre-eclampsia, a blood-pressure condition that can be life threatening, according to study author Jon Nakamoto, an associate clinical professor at the University of California-San Diego's Rady Children's Hospital. Gestational diabetes also increases the likelihood of premature birth and birth defects.

The study, based on an analysis by Quest Diagnostics, found that 19% of women diagnosed with gestational diabetes did not receive recommended screenings for regular diabetes six months after giving birth. Nakamoto, who is also the medical director for Quest Diagnostics Nichols Institute, said that as many as 50% of women with gestational diabetes will go on to develop diabetes over the longterm.

Ellen Landsberger, associate professor at Albert Einstein College of Medicine and obstetrical director of the diabetes center of excellence at Monetefiore Medical Center, said, "The power of the ... study is its size," but "[t]he problem is, we don't know if the people who we've missed are at low or high risk for gestational diabetes."

Separate data released last week by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality suggests that 6.4% of the 4.2 million women who gave birth in 2008 had diabetes before they became pregnant or developed gestational diabetes. Gestational diabetes can be managed through healthy diet, exercise and sometimes taking insulin, Landsberger said (Marcus, USA Today, 12/21).

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