Diabetes specialists recommend test for all pregnant women

Main Category: Diabetes
Article Date: 15 Apr 2004 - 0:00 PDT

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In women suffering from gestational diabetes, regular monitoring of the blood glucose level can help to protect both pregnant women and their babies.

Leverkusen, Germany - 720,000 babies are born in Germany each year. About 20,000 to 35,000 women who are normally not diabetic are nonetheless diagnosed as suffering from this condition during pregnancy, making this form of diabetes, also known as gestational diabetes, the most common metabolic disorder in expectant mothers.

Specialists believe that the gray figure may be much higher. Gestational diabetes is asymptomatic, with the result that it is not discovered in many cases and therefore goes untreated. However, appropriate treatment at an early stage can help to prevent deformations and organ damage in the child as well as problems during birth.

To enable all pregnant women suffering from this condition to receive treatment, gynecologists should routinely examine prospective mothers for diabetes between the 24th and 28th weeks of pregnancy.

This recommendation was voiced by diabetes experts who met in Leverkusen in late March on the initiative of Bayer HealthCare to share their experiences and discuss all aspects of diabetes.

What's more, this test can be conducted quite simply in every gynecological practice and has no negative effects on the unborn child.

Women who are diagnosed as suffering from gestational diabetes should be referred to a diabetes specialist, as these experts are well acquainted with this metabolic disorder and can implement treatment without delay.

For most women, a change in diet along with exercise will be sufficient to return their metabolisms to normal. If the desired blood glucose levels cannot be achieved with these means, the physician will generally prescribe insulin and a blood glucose monitoring device such as the Ascensia® Elite for the time until birth. Gestational diabetes usually recedes after delivery.

Appropriate treatment of gestational diabetes at an early stage allows women to experience a largely normal pregnancy and enjoy a natural birth at the calculated date. Most importantly, even women with this form of diabetes then generally give birth to completely healthy children.

About Bayer HealthCare AG

Bayer HealthCare AG, a subgroup of Bayer AG with sales of approximately 8.9 billion Euro in 2003, is one of the world's leading, innovative companies in the health care and medical products industry.

The company combines the global activities of the divisions Animal Health, Biological Products, Consumer Care, Diagnostics and Pharmaceuticals. 34,600 people are employed by Bayer HealthCare worldwide.

Our aim is to discover and manufacture innovative products that will improve human and animal health worldwide. Our products enhance well-being and quality of life by diagnosing, preventing and treating disease.

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