Study Lowers Blood Sugar Levels in Diagnosing Diabetes During Pregnancy

by | Apr 22, 2010 | 2010, Blood Sugar, Diabetes, Pancreatic Health, Pregnancy and Lactation, Women's Health

Written by Greg Arnold, DC, CSCS. This article discusses gestational diabetes which is an increased intolerance to sugar during pregnancy.

Defined as “any degree of glucose intolerance during pregnancy” (1), gestational diabetes affects approximately 7% of all pregnancies and results in more than 200,000 cases each year. (2) Gestational diabetes affects the mother late in pregnancy and can hurt the baby, as the high blood sugar also gives the baby high blood glucose levels. This extra sugar in the baby’s blood will get stored as fat and lead to what’s called “macrosomia”, or a “fat” baby (3).

Now a new study (4) has found that blood sugar levels that qualify the diagnosis of gestational diabetes are actually lower than previously thought. In the study, 25,000 pregnant women in the third trimester of pregnancy participating in the HAPO Study (5) were given a Glucose Tolerance Test (6) to assess for gestational diabetes. The researchers looked at birth weight, if there was a cesarean section delivery, blood sugar levels in the newborns, and levels of a protein called C-peptide in the umbilical cord, which indicates how much insulin the body is using and is a marker for diabetes (7).

At the completion of the pregnancies and looking at the data on the aforementioned outcomes, the researchers concluded that a fasting blood sugar level of 92 mg/dL or higher, a 1-hour level of 180 mg/dL or higher, or a 2-hour level of 153 mg/dL or higher on a glucose tolerance test should now qualify as a diagnosis of gestational diabetes.

What these new results now show is that the actual rate of gestational diabetes is more than double (16% of all pregnancies) than was previously thought (7% of all pregnancies). The current recommendations for fasting plasma glucose is 126 mg/dL or above and two-hour glucose is 200 mg/dL or above (8) to qualify for diabetes.

Source: International Association of Diabetes and Pregnancy Study Groups Consensus Panel. “International association of diabetes and pregnancy study groups recommendations on the diagnosis and classification of hyperglycemia in pregnancy.” Diabetes care 33.3 (2010): 676-682.

© 2010 by the American Diabetes Association.

Posted April 22, 2010.

References:

  1. Metzger BE, Coustan DR (Eds.): Proceedings of the Fourth International Work-shop-Conference on Gestational Diabetes Mellitus. Diabetes Care 21 (Suppl. 2):B1–B167, 1998.
  2. Gestational Diabetes Mellitus. Diabetes Care 2003; 26: 103S-105S.
  3. “Gestational Diabetes” posted on the American Diabetes Association Website.
  4. International Association of Diabetes and Pregnancy Study Groups recommendations on the diagnosis and classification of hyperglycemia in pregnancy. Diabetes Care 2010; 33(3): 676-673.
  5. HAPO Study Cooperative Research Group. The Hyperglycemia and Adverse Pregnancy Outcome (HAPO) Study. Intl J Gynaecol Obstet 2002;78:69-77.
  6. “Glucose Tolerance Test” – see the U.S. National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health website.
  7. “C-peptide” – see the Medicine Net. Com website.
  8. “Diagnosing Diabetes” – see the Medicine Net. Com website.