Pregnancy raises diabetes risk

It may be the most wonderful experience of a woman's life, but pregnancy may increase the risk of diabetes. Also, women who have diabetes during pregnancy, known as gestational diabetes, seem to be at an even greater risk.

The link between diabetes and pregnancy has been unclear, but researchers have suspected that some of the weight gain and relatively sedentary lifestyle that is associated with pregnancy for many women might put them at risk for diabetes.

To examine whether childbearing is associated with higher incidence of the metabolic syndrome (MetS) after delivery, researchers from America studied 1451 women aged between 18 and 30 years. Metabolic syndrome,a condition in which people have abnormal cholesterol, high blood pressure, and are overweight, among other symptoms, has been linked to a higher risk of diabetes.

Over the course of 20 years beginning in 1985, 359 participants became pregnant, and 259 developed metabolic syndrome. This translated to about a one percent per year chance of developing the syndrome overall.

After adjusting for factors including physical activity, it was found that a single healthy pregnancy without gestational diabetes raised the risk of metabolic syndrome about 30 percent, while two or more healthy pregnancies raised the risk about 60 percent. The risks were much greater for women who had gestational diabetes, which more than doubled the risk of metabolic syndrome.

The researchers suggest that screening women for diabetes risk factors following pregnancy might be warranted.