Gestational Diabetes
|
Gestational diabetes is a temporary condition that occurs during pregnancy. Pregnant women who have never had diabetes before, but who have high blood sugar levels during pregnancy, are said to have gestational diabetes.Gestational diabetes affects about 4% of all pregnancies, making it one of the top health concerns related to pregnancy.
What is the cause of gestational diabetes?
While no-one really knows the cause, there are some factors that is might increase the risk of developing gestational diabetes. These include:
What are the risks of gestational diabetes?
High sugar levels in your blood can be unhealthy for both you and your baby. If a woman had gestational diabetes during pregnancy, there is an increased risk of developing diabetes for both mother and child. Babies born to mothers with gestational diabetes have a greater change of developing diabetes, but there is also some other risks involved, such as macrosomia, or a "fat" baby. Babies with macrosomia face health problems of their own, including damage to their shoulders during birth, or a higher risk for breathing problems.
Treating gestational diabetes
In most cases, gestational diabetes is managed by diet and exercise, and goes away after the baby is born. But because gestational diabetes can hurt you and your baby, it is important to start treatment quickly. You should consult your doctor for special meal plans and scheduled physical activity.
There is no reason to panic
While gestational diabetes is a cause for concern, the good news with the correct diet and exercise, you can keep your blood glucose levels under control, and give a healthy start for your baby.
Andrew Palmer helps maintain Diabetesweb, an informational site on everything related to diabetes. Be sure to check it out if you need further information on gestational diabetes.
|
|
|
Diabetes: Diabetics Fight Back
Many cases of diabetes go unnoticed or unchecked before a person or their doctor realizes the inevitable. This disease silently uses destructive high blood sugars to gradually damage the body for months or even years, before symptoms are noted.This Global Epidemic, according to the US Government has been di...(related: Diabetes)
Some Changes Make A Big Difference!
When it comes to diabetes, small changes can make a big difference -- even in the middle of an epidemic that currently affects more than 2 million Americans and Canadians, and costs us an estimated $13.2 billion per year. Earlier prevention, earlier diagnosis, and very aggressive treatment of diabetes by controlling blood glucose levels, blood pressure, and lipid (i.e.cholesterol) levels have proven to prevent or significantly delay the damage that uncontrolled diabetes can ca...(related: Diabetes)
Normal Blood Sugar Levels Are Possible For A Diabetic!
What are normal blood sugar levels? Fasting (blood sugar level after not eating for 8 hours) blood sugar should be between 70 milligrams per deciliter to 100 mg/dL. Your blood sugar should not be above 100 at any given time; If it is, this suggests a pre-diabetes condition. A level of 100 - 199 suggests prediabetes. A level over 200 suggests that you have either Type 1 or Type 2 diabetes.There are several steps in lowering your blood sugar. Try the following if you are interested in more normal blood sugar levels.A. Begin slowly lowering your carbohydrate intake. If you want to get very specific on which foods you can and cannot eat, I recommend the diet as per Dr. Richard Bernstein. He has done all the testing for us and eliminated all foods that had a m...(related: Diabetes)
Diabetic Foot Care Tips: Cant Afford To Ignore It!
Most of the time, we focus on health or skin care completely ignoring the importance of our feet. Foot care is equally important especially for diabetic people to av...(related: Diabetes)
Medicinal Properties Of Bitter Melon - Good For Diabetics
Bitter Melon is the English name of Momordica charantia, a climbing vine whose leaves and green fruits, although bitter, has been used to fight cancer, diabetes and many infectious diseases. It is also a powerful weapon against HIV/AIDS since some reports claim that bitter melon has substance Q. It is on...(related: Diabetes)
Diabetes Awareness: Wake Up Call
When traveling on out-of-town business, its common to have the hotel front desk give you a wake-up call in the morning. You want to avoid the embarrassment and repercussions of being late for your business appointments.Here is an important wake-up call for your life and the lives of the people you most care about.If you want to avoid the life damaging effects of diabetes, take 3 minutes to read the remainder of this article right now.The new buzz in the medical community calls it- "Pre-Diabetes". Today, roughly 41 million Americans have pre-diabetes which left undetected and untreated, progresses into full-blown diabetes.The challe...(related: Diabetes)
Raising Happy Diabetic Kids Part Ii
This is the second article in a series I am writing about how to raise happy diabetic children. You can find the first article titled Help Your Child Develope Self-Confidence in our article archives.Sometimes the phrase "happy diabetic kids" seems to be an oxymoron. Often it seems all of the dark powers of the diabetes universe are aligned against you. You wonder if there isn't some evil house elf behind the scenes just making everyone's life miserable on purpose. Not being graduates of Hogwarts School Of Magic we can't just wave a magic wand and make it all better. We must prepare for life with diabetes and we must prepare our children. Self-Reliance is a critical skill for diabetic children to master. Think of all of the responsibilities that go into daily diabetes care. We all realize that we must keep the responsibili...(related: Diabetes)
Insulin
Insulin has two critical roles in the body that we cannot live without, yet it can be the root of many health problems, including diabetes. Insulin carries sugar (glucose), fat and protein into your cells where they are used for energy and the repair of your cells. When you eat, a certain amount of the food will be converted into glucose and enter the bloodstream. As the sugar levels rise, the body senses it and the pancreas secretes insulin to lower the sugar. This is insulin's second main function.
If you eat too much of any food, especially carbohydrates (starch and sugar) the levels of glucose in the blood rise to very high levels. I...(related: Diabetes)
Diabetes Awareness: Ill Wait Til It Hurts
By the time many type 2 diabetics (and often their doctors) realize action is necessary, the disease, with its destructive high blood sugars, has been silently dam...(related: Diabetes)
Just Say No To An 1800 Diabetic Diet
It's been a year, and 85 blubbery pounds less, since I was diagnosed with diabetes Type2. The news was especially scary because my mother died of diabetic complications 3 years after diagnosis- the SAME AGE AS ME! EEEK!The day I was diagnosed, my doctor handed me a glucometer, an 1800-calorie diabetic diet and a handful of prescriptions, mumbling something about being sorry and I should watch after my health better. WHAT!!! I had been on every low-fat diet and was down to eating like an anorexic bird. The injustice of the whole thing was just WRONG.Over the years, as other fatties joined food addiction support groups, shamefully admitting to secret outings to fast food drive-up windows in the middle of...(related: Diabetes)
site-map - Copyright © 2006 | Contact Webmaster | All Rights Reserved. | Diabetes