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(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Even if a pregnant woman doesnt have diabetes, higher than normal blood sugar levels put her and her babies at risk for birth problems similar to those of diabetic mothers and their babies.
Elevated blood sugar levels make a caesarean delivery and an abnormally high body weight for the baby more likely. It also raises the possibility of shoulder dystocia -- when the babys shoulder gets stuck inside the mother, stopping the birth process.
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The seven year study is the first to show that many of the risks faced by diabetic mothers are also faced by those with blood sugar that is high but not high enough to be considered diabetes. The work was partially funded by the National Institutes of Health and led by researcher Boyd E Metzger, M.D., a professor of medicine at the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago.
Dr. Metzger said before this study, doctors were not sure at which point a mothers elevated blood sugar posed a risk to the baby. The authors would not make recommendations as to what accepted blood sugar levels are, nor were researchers able to identify a precise level where high blood sugar affected the outcomes indicated in the study.
Five percent of all pregnancies in the United States involve women with diabetes. They face additional risks that have been known for some time including increased risk for preeclampsia, a potentially fatal condition involving high blood pressure. Babies born to diabetic mothers are also at higher risk for obesity, high blood pressure, heart disease and diabetes later in life.
These important new findings highlight the risks of elevated blood sugar levels during pregnancy, Duane Alexander, M.D., Director of the NIHs Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, was quoted as saying. More studies are underway and until more information is available, its recommended that pregnant women talk to their doctor about diabetes screening.
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SOURCE: The New England Journal of Medicine, 2008;385:1991-2002
This article was reported by Ivanhoe.com, who offers Medical Alerts by e-mail every day of the week. To subscribe, go to: http://www.ivanhoe.com/newsalert/.
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