The main gestational diabetes symptom indicative of the disease is the elevation of the blood sugar levels. Hence, great care should be taken that high blood sugar levels should be treated with utmost urgency in order to avoid any complications that can affect the woman’s pregnant condition. The following information about gestational diabetes may be useful to any pregnant woman:

The Root Causes of Gestational Diabetes

Pregnancy involves the active participation of your placenta as it produces hormones to sustain you and the developing baby in your womb. However, these hormones have the tendency to render your cells resistant to insulin.

As you enter the second and third trimesters, the more hormones are secreted since your pregnant body demands it; this however makes it more difficult for the insulin to help your cells absorb glucose.

The pancreas tries to help by producing more insulin to thwart the insulin resistance of the cells, however, there is now an over production of insulin, which was not successful in opening the cells to glucose absorption. Glucose in the blood increases, insulin level increases yet the body cells remain wanting in glucose supplement, due to its resistance to insulin.

You may now experience excessive thirstiness and frequently urinate to pass the excess glucose out of your system. These now are the gestational diabetes symptoms taking place.

Who are Prone to Gestational Diabetes?

1. Gestational diabetes may occur in any woman who is 25 years or older, but some women have greater risks in developing gestational diabetes.

2. Women with familial history of developing gestational diabetes from where she may have acquired the genetic deficiency.

3. Women who were pregnant before and likewise developed gestational diabetes during the previous pregnancy. Usually this is true among women whose baby weighed about 9 pounds upon delivery or those who experienced an unexplained stillbirth.

4. Pregnant women who were already overweight even before the onset of the pregnancy.

5. For unexplained reasons, statistics show that women who belonged to the following ethnicity: African, Hispanics, American Indian or Asian are prone to develop gestational diabetes during their pregnancies.

Managing Gestational Diabetes during Pregnancy

Address your pregnancy with more concern by making more trips to your health care provider for pre-natal checkups. This is very important particularly during the last three months of pregnancy for constant monitoring of your blood sugar level.

Ask your health care provider for a referral, regarding other health professionals who can help you in managing your gestational diabetes during the term of your pregnancy. This may be an endocrinologist, a registered dietitian or a diabetes educator. In extreme cases, your health care provider may refer you to a doctor who specializes in high-risk pregnancies.

These professionals can help you in all aspects of gestational diabetes to ensure that your diabetes disorder will not lead to any complications that may endanger your life and that of your baby’s.

If you are among those women who have a high risk of developing gestational diabetes, do not wait for gestational diabetes symptoms to take place before taking the proper preventive courses of action.

It is a question my teacher has been asking and he wants to know why.

1. Types of Diabetes

There are four forms of the disease, classified as: types 1 and 2, gestational and other specific types.

a. Type 1 Diabetes

In people with type 1 diabetes the pancreas is not producing insulin, so blood glucose levels are higher than normal. People with this form of diabetes require daily insulin therapy to survive. This form is further split into idiopathic diabetes and immune mediated diabetes.

Type 1 accounts for around 10% to 15% of all people with diabetes. It is one of the most serious and common chronic diseases of childhood, with about half of the people with this form of diabetes developing the disease before age 18. It is also known as insulin dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM) or juvenile-onset diabetes.

b. Type 2 Diabetes

Type 2 diabetes is marked by reduced levels of insulin (insulin deficiency) and/or the inability of the body to use insulin properly (insulin resistance). This form of the disease is most common among people aged 40 years and over and accounts for 85% to 90% of all people with diabetes. Most people with type 2 diabetes are obese.

c. Gestational Diabetes

Gestational diabetes occurs during pregnancy in about 3% to 8% of females not previously diagnosed with diabetes. It is a temporary form of diabetes and usually disappears after the baby is born. However, it is a marker of much greater risk of developing Type 2 diabetes later in life. Screening tests for gestational diabetes are usually performed around the 24th-28th week of pregnancy.

d. Other Specific Diabetes Types

This includes people who have diabetes as a result of a genetic defect, or exposure to certain drugs or chemicals.

2. Causes of Diabetes Mellitus

Diabetes is caused by resistance to, or deficient production of, the hormone insulin, which helps glucose move from the blood into the cells.

In type 1 immune mediated diabetes, pancreatic beta cell destruction results in failure to release insulin and ineffective transport of glucose. There is no known cause for idiopathic diabetes.

In type 2 diabetes, the beta cells release insulin but, receptors are insulin resistant and glucose transport is variable and inefficient. Some people may have conditions that can cause diabetes, such as Cushing’s syndrome, pancreatitis or liver disease.

Risk factors for type 2 diabetes include;

a. Obesity
b. History of Gestational diabetes
c. Lack of physical activity
d. Hypertension
e. Age 45+
f. Ethnic groupings other than anglo-saxon
g. Low HDL cholesterol levels
h. Impaired glucose tolerance
i. Family history

3. Signs and Symptoms of Diabetes

Symptoms of diabetes include; dehydration, unexplained weight loss, excessive thirst, frequent need to urinate, fatigue, lethargy, severe irritation and itching, excessive hunger, blurred vision, skin and urinary infections and vaginitis.

4. Diagnosis

Diabetes or impaired glucose tolerance may be detected on routine blood tests as part of a general health check up or investigation for other symptoms or diseases. Diabetes tests check blood glucose levels.

Fasting blood glucose levels are classified as:

Normal: less than 100 mg/dl
Prediabetes: 100 to 125 mg/dl
Diabetes: greater than 125mg/dl

Because symptoms can be mild, diabetes is often detected when a person suffers a problem that is caused by diabetes, such as a heart attack, stroke, neuropathy, poor wound healing or a foot ulcer, certain eye problems, certain fungal infections, or delivering a baby with macrosomia or hypoglycemia.

5. Diabetes Treatment

Effective treatment endeavors to normalize blood glucose and reduce complications using insulin replacement, diet and exercise. For those with very mild diabetes, diet plus weight loss plus exercise may be enough to keep blood glucose within reasonable levels.

Dietary changes should focus on the ideas of weight loss and blood sugar regulation by keeping the blood sugar levels relatively stable throughout the day, avoiding big peaks or troughs.

The principal treatment of type 1 diabetes, even from its earliest stages, is replacement of insulin combined with careful monitoring of blood glucose levels using blood testing monitors.

Type 2 diabetes may require oral anti-diabetic drugs to stimulate body insulin production and increase insulin sensitivity. Various forms of natural supplements for diabetes treatment have also been postulated as effective.

People with unstable diabetes, or those requiring many injections a day, may benefit from an insulin pump which is worn on the body and delivers a continuous infusion of insulin via a needle implanted into the body.

Gestational diabetes is fully treatable but requires careful medical supervision throughout the pregnancy. Even though it may be transient, untreated gestational diabetes can damage the health of the fetus or the mother.

Treatment for all forms of diabetes need not significantly impair normal activities, if sufficient patient training, awareness, appropriate care, discipline in testing and dosing of insulin is taken

6. Complications

Diabetes mellitus is the most common cause of adult kidney failure worldwide in the developed world. If undetected or poorly controlled, diabetes can lead to blindness, kidney failure, lower limb amputation, heart attack, stroke and impotence.