To print: Select File and then Print from your browser's menu --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Title: DG DISPATCH - EASD: Screening Programme Uncovers High Incidence Of Gestational Diabetes URL: http://www.pslgroup.com/dg/1E1B92.htm Doctor's Guide September 20, 2000
By Mark Pownall Special to DG News
JERUSALEM, ISRAEL -- September 20, 2000 -- A German screening programme has identified a high hidden level of gestational diabetes.
Preliminary results from the screening programme found gestational diabetes in 4 percent of pregnant women who had no risk factors for the condition. A total of 1,608 out of 2,000 consecutive and unselected pregnancies underwent screening.
Gestational diabetes was diagnosed in 13 percent of the women overall. Yet a perinatal survey carried out in 1995-1997 found a prevalence of gestational diabetes of only 0.47 percent.
Results from the screening programme were collected by ministry of health doctors from Kiel and were presented yesterday (Sept. 19) at the European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD) in Jerusalem, Israel.
The data identified a "substantial underestimate" in the true level of gestational diabetes, the researchers said.
Women with gestational diabetes were four times more likely to have hypertension (6.5 percent compared to 1.7 percent among pregnant women without gestational diabetes) and had a 25 percent increased chance of having a caesarean section (25 percent against 19.6 percent).
There was little difference in the rates of macrosomia and "large for dates" babies between the women with gestational diabetes and the women without. Newborns, however, were three times more likely to have hypoglycaemia if their mothers had gestational diabetes.
The women in the survey were investigated with a one-step, 75-g oral glucose tolerance test between the 24th and 28th week of pregnancy. Gestational diabetes was defined as a one-hour plasma glucose level above 160 mg/dl.
Women identified as having gestational diabetes were referred to diabetes specialists for intensive diabetes and obstetric care, and the researchers said they considered the intervention to be successful. There were no stillbirths to the mothers identified as having gestational diabetes.
The researchers suggested that even those pregnant women with no risk factors should be screened for gestational diabetes, given the high prevalence identified. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Copyright © 1999 P\S\L Consulting Group Inc. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of P\S\L content is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of P\S\L. P\S\L shall not be liable for any errors, omissions or delays in this content or any other content on its sites, newsletters or other publications, nor for any decisions or actions taken in reliance on such content. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This news story was printed from *Doctor's Guide to the Internet* located at http://www.docguide.com --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Return to News Story Page This site is maintained by webmaster@pslgroup.com Please contact us with any comments, problems or bugs. All contents Copyright (c) 1998 P\S\L Consulting Group Inc. All rights reserved.