Q: My wife is in her seventh month of pregnancy. She is due sometime around 28th of March. All her tests are OK and she is doing fine so far. Her weight gain is also OK. Recently she had to change her doctor as we shifted to a new city. The doctor here has prescribed Optisulin capsules from Dr. Reddy's to be taken once a day even though her glucose test was negative. The doctor says that since her father was a diabetic, she has the potential to develop gestational diabetes in the last months of her pregnancy. Therefore, she asked her to take Optisulin as a precautionary measure. Is it necessary for her to take this medicine? Does it carry any risk for the mother or the child?

A:Optisulin is marketed by American Remedies and not Dr. Reddy's Lab. It is a fixed dose combination of some vitamins, zinc, chromium etc. It has nothing to do with gestational diabetes. No medication is required during pregnancy to prevent the development of diabetes even when one of the parents is diabetic. It is dangerous to give unnecessary drugs during pregnancy. However, your wife definitely requires folic acid and perhaps iron. You can give her Globac Softules that contains folic acid and iron - one softule a day till labour.