Women with gestational diabetes need to take care after delivery: Experts

Gestational diabetes, which is a temporary disease causing non-production of insulin and affecting pregnant women, can turn into type-2 diabetes, if proper care after delivery is not taken. According to experts, most patients suffer from diabetes mellitus type-2, which is incurable.

Dr Neerja Bhatla, gynecologist and obstetrician at AIIMS, said, “Approximately 10 per cent of pregnant women are at a risk of gestational diabetes. Even as the main reason of contracting gestational diabetes still needs to be researched further, obesity and previous family history of diabetes are considered as main factors.” 

She described gestational diabetes as a condition, wherein pregnant women suffer from temporary resistance or the production of insulin from pancreas completely stops, causing diabetes for a brief period.

She added in the 28th week of pregnancy, a glucose tolerance test can show how well is a woman’s body is able to break glucose.

Describing other tests, Dr Bhatla said there is a ‘seventy-five gram glucose test’ where the blood glucose level among pregnant women is tested every two hours and a ‘hundred gram glucose test that tests the blood glucose level every three hours.

Bhatla said such tests are important to prevent complications like high blood pressure or abnormality in foetus. She added after delivery utmost care must be taken by women, who are at the greater risk of contracting type 2 diabetes and other complications like polycystic ovary syndrome, a hormonal disorder.

Dr Nikhil Tandon, endocrinologist and medical academician at AIIMS, described type-1 diabetes as a disease, where pancreas completely stop producing insulin and type-2 diabetes as a disease where insulin production by pancreas is low, which, if not checked, could cause damage to kidneys, eyes, liver, blood vessels and cause stroke

Delhi, which has seen an exponential increase in diabetes cases over the years, continues to be in its grip because of the lack of awareness, late detection and unhealthy lifestyle. There are six million diabetic patients in India and by 2020 the number could rise to ten million.