RI-MUHC study finds link between diabetes in children and maternal gestational diabetes
A new study by a team at the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre (RI-MUHC), found an increased risk of type 1 diabetes in children of mothers who had gestational diabetes during pregnancy.
Gestational diabetes is a condition in which a woman without diabetes develops high blood sugar levels during pregnancy.
The study funded by Diabetes Canada and published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal found that a child or teen whose mother had gestational diabetes was nearly twice as likely to develop type 1 diabetes before the age of 22.
The study compared data from 73,180 randomly selected single births from mothers with gestational diabetes to births from mothers without gestational diabetes. “The incidence — the number of new cases — of diabetes per 10,000 person-years was 4.5 in children born to mothers with gestational diabetes and 2.4 in mothers without.”
Early detection of diabetes is vital in children and youth, parents should be on the lookout for signs such as frequent urination, excessive thirst, or weight loss, mainly if their moms had gestational diabetes.
“This research may result in a greater propensity for healthcare providers to promptly test children who present with typical diabetes symptoms and who are born to mothers with gestational diabetes, thereby reducing the likelihood of severe incidents like diabetic ketoacidosis. We look forward to improving the lives and outcomes of children through greater research in this area.” Dr. Jan Hux, President, and CEO of Diabetes Canada.