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Study Elevated blood sugar levels in pregnant women has serious consequences
A higher sugar level in pregnant women can lead to unwanted consequences for the expectant mother and her child. Examples of problems include pre-eclampsia, macrosomia and shoulder dystocia. It makes no difference whether the women have gestational diabetes. Too high a level of sugar generally leads to a greatly increased risk of adverse health effects.
The scientists from the Bradford Institute for Health Research in the UK found in an investigation that a high blood sugar level has a linear relationship with an increased health risk for mother and child. The physicians published the results of their study in the journal British Medical Journal (BMJ).
How Does An Increased Sugar Level Affect Pregnancy? Researchers found that high blood sugar levels can lead to serious risks for the newborn. (Image: tunedin / fotolia.com) So far, there is no guideline for a greatly increased risk by the sugar level
The new study also found that so far there is no clear glucose threshold, from which concentration leads to a greatly increased risk of adverse effects. Diane Farrar from the Bradford Institute for Health Research in the United Kingdom.
High blood sugar can lead to shoulder dystocia
An elevated so-called sober glucose concentration has a strong impact on the general risks of adverse events, explain the physicians. Higher blood sugar levels are associated with a more than two-fold increased risk of some diseases, such as pre-eclampsia, infant macrosomia, and infant macrosomia. Also, mothers' overweight and diabetes often lead to overly large babies. The high blood sugar level can also cause a so-called shoulder dystocia and so bring the need for a caesarean section, the researchers add.
Study analyzes data from 23 international studies
The physicians analyzed data from 23 studies in high-income countries for their study. These included, for example, countries in Asia, Australia, Europe and North America.
Threshold for gestational diabetes is quite arbitrary
In gestational diabetes (as defined by the International Association of Diabetes and Pregnancy, IADPSG), there was a significantly increased risk of three different adverse events. These include macrosomia, the thickness of skin folds at birth, and the appearance of the so-called C-peptide in umbilical cord blood. Gestational diabetes also increases the risk for type 2 diabetes. However, the definition of the threshold is quite arbitrary and focuses primarily on the obesity of children. Thus, an attempt is made to determine a future risk for the development of obesity. Farrar.
Investigations should better integrate occurring negative effects
The application of a threshold for all results would assume that all results are clinically equally important, the researchers explain. Instead of an arbitrary level of risk, future research should consider the negative effects that occur with respect to different blood sugar levels and gestational diabetes. These are considered more important by mothers and gynecologists, say the authors. Meanwhile, the importance of changing lifestyle habits in patients with gestational diabetes (gestational diabetes) or impaired glucose levels should be considered.
Additional research is urgently needed
There is no fixed value, which determines from when affected persons are considered at risk for gestational diabetes. What is certain, however, is that a change in diet and exercise in people at risk is beneficial. Further studies should address a reliable threshold for the various adverse events. However, it remains questionable whether thresholds can help the problem at all, the experts add. (As)