Higher Rates Of Gestational Diabetes Research Articles

Obstetric outcomes associated with increase in BMI category during pregnancy

The purpose of this study was to investigate effect of increase in body mass index (BMI) category on obstetric outcomes. A cohort study was conducted from 1999 to 2002. Women with singleton pregnancies were placed in standard BMI categories. Increase in BMI was calculated as difference between initial BMI and delivery BMI. ANOVA was used to compare continuous variables, and chi-square test for categorical variables. This study included 5131 women: 49.8% had no change in BMI category, 43.9% increased by 1 BMI category, and 6.3% by >1 category. Increase in BMI category was associated with higher rates of gestational diabetes (P = .005), failed induction (P < .001), lacerations (P < .001), cesarean deliveries (P < .001), and postpartum infection (P = .007) in normal weight women. Overweight women also had increased rates of preeclampsia (P = .002) and operative vaginal deliveries (P < .001). Obese women had higher rates of chorioamnionitis (P = .003), failed induction (P < .001), and cesarean deliveries (P = .016). Increase in BMI category is associated with increased risk of complications.

The importance of insulin resistance in polycystic ovary syndrome

The most widely accepted criteria for the diagnosis of polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) are hyperandrogenism and/or hyperandrogenemia and oligo-ovulation, with the exclusion of other hyperandrogenic disorders (1). Thus, androgen elevation defines the syndrome. This definition permits a wide range of presentations and clinical appearances, that is, a continuum of patients with PCOS. Androgen excess, of ovarian and often also adrenal origin, underlies the symptoms of hirsutism, acne, alopecia, and seborrhea, and treatment with anti-androgens is the most effective method of reducing these complaints. Hyperandrogenemia may also be responsible for the weight gain present in about 50% of cases. What has been increasingly recognized is that PCOS is associated with insulin resistance and compensatory hyperinsulinemia. While not required for the diagnosis of PCOS, insulin resistance appears to cause or exacerbate hyperandrogenemia in many patients, as evidenced by the reduction in ovarian and adrenal androgen levels with insulin-sensitizing therapy (2‐ 6). More importantly, insulin resistance leads to hypertension, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease, the most significant complications of PCOS.

Birth weight as a predictor of type 2 diabetes mellitus: the U-shaped curve.

Recent findings have sparked intense interest in birth weight as a predictor of type 2 diabetes mellitus. In some populations, there is an inverse association between birth size and disease; however, in the Pima Indians, a population with very high rates of gestational diabetes, high birth weight and low birth weight are associated with diabetes. This results in a U-shaped curve with higher diabetes rates in both tails of the distribution. Similarly, there are reports of an inverse association between stature and prevalence of gestational diabetes, but, in California Latina women with gestational diabetes, there is a positive association between stature and glucose concentration. Could these disparate findings also represent the two ends of a U-shaped curve? The disparities are likely due to differences in the environment, both in utero and postnatally, that different groups experience.

Health of Aboriginal mothers and babies in NSW

There are, on average, about 1300 births to Aboriginal mothers in NSW each year - 1.5 per cent of all births in NSW. For Aboriginal mothers pregnancy is characterised by fewer antenatal visits and higher rates of gestational diabetes, premature rupture of membranes and threatened premature labour compared with non-Aboriginal mothers.