In this post & video I am going to answer some of the most important questions on gestational diabetes.
Gestational diabetes is a type of diabetes that can develop during pregnancy in women who haven’t had diabetes before.
As per the International Diabetes Federation data an estimated 16.8 million pregnant women had higher than normal blood glucose levels due to gestational diabetes in 2019.
Their data suggests that 1 in every 6 births was affected by gestational diabetes.
As per the American Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (i.e. CDC) gestational diabetes affects 6 to 9% of the pregnant women in the United States every year.
Unfortunately, the numbers across the world are growing at an alarming rate.
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Prashanth Reddy Cheruku
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I created this platform with a mission: to educate people worldwide about Food Science, Nutrition & Preventive Healthcare. Our ultimate goal is to enhance both lifespan and healthspan—not just for people, but for PETS too!
About Me
I am a qualified Food Engineer & Sports Nutritionist with over 13 years of research & content creation experience. My academic background includes:
🎓 Master of Technology in Food Process Engineering
📍 Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kharagpur
What causes gestational diabetes?
The food we eat is broken down to glucose and our cells need it as a fuel. Glucose is transported to all the cells of the body in the blood. The glucose is sent into the cells by a hormone called as insulin.
During pregnancy a woman’s body undergoes several hormonal changes. Sometimes these hormones block the action of insulin on mother’s body. It causes insulin resistance. The body has to produce more insulin to compensate it. But still the quantity of insulin produced by the mother may not be sufficient.
Since there is not enough insulin to send the glucose into the cells of her body the glucose is left out in the blood itself. This excess presence of glucose in the blood is called as hyperglycemia and this eventually leads to gestational diabetes.
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What are the symptoms of gestational diabetes?
Unfortunately, gestational diabetes doesn’t show any symptoms. But the diagnosis can be made using a simple blood glucose test.
If the pregnant woman has symptoms of diabetes such as frequent urination (especially at night), feeling unusually thirsty, abnormal weight loss, feeling very tired or weak then it is better to consult a doctor and undergo the blood glucose test.
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When to test for gestational diabetes?
Since gestational diabetes usually develops around the 24th week of pregnancy (which is at the end of second trimester) your doctor would suggest you to undergo blood test between 24 and 28 weeks of pregnancy.
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