Diabetes is a very spreading and problem-causing disease that affects millions of people worldwide, people who already have a lot of problems, either since birth, or since they have begun to eat a very bad diet which makes them even more vulnerable and susceptible to the diabetes risk.
Normal diabetes can be the choice of a continuous malnutrition that can skyrocket those glucose levels to the highest point. What happens when this disease relates to pregnancy, and especially the gestational period, a period that is supposed to bring only smiles and happiness to the potential parental couple?
Well the road seems to be out of roses for the 4% to 10% of women who can suffer from gestational diabetes. However knowledge and special knowledge pointed to the risks and dangers of gestational diabetes is always a power.
It is globally known that health in risk for the mother-to-be means danger for that small little creature that tries to grow within her. Was it the woman’s fault that she wanted to receive the gift of motherhood? Or was it the child’s fault that he wants to grow at a safe environment only to come out healthy in this cruel world? None’s fault of course.
Danger begins from the fact that insulin cannot pass the placenta. But guess what? Glucose can. So we ought to smack our heads on the wall for being humans, just because our nature made us imperfect right from the beginning of life. Nature does its task. But what happens when the unwanted circumstance where the blood glucose levels get higher inside the baby’s placenta is not actually the mother’s intention?
Studies have shown that whatever the history of a new mother is, gestational diabetes has always got potential. The baby will try to fight all this unintentional intrusion of glucose with its own pancreas. However since the mother’s organism could not produce the necessary amounts of insulin to protect the baby too, the baby has to do all the job even before it is born.
You can of course imagine how difficult is for a fetus, that used to be a small egg before it got shape to fight high glucose with not even a properly formed immune system. The result can be tragic: Glucose is stored as fat into the baby, determining its high risk exit into the real world.
So what would be the dangers for the small one as well as for its mother? The most common dangerous result from the fight of the fetus is called macrosomia. It is the condition where the baby weights excessively more than expected. Its breathing can be very defective and it can also run the danger of dying from seizures and eclampsia , conditions that have been caused by the high blood pressure of the mother and baby. Luckily gestational diabetes can be prevented if properly monitored in the 28th week of pregnancy, and cured with bringing back the insulin levels to a non-threatening level. So future mothers be informed, even if you think you are not concerned!