To print: Select File and then Print from your browser's menu --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Title: Mother's High Normal Glucose Levels May Increase Risk of Infant Birth Problems URL: http://www.pslgroup.com/dg/220EEA.htm Doctor's Guide May 9, 2008
NEW YORK -- May 9, 2008 -- According to a study funded largely by the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) that was published in the May 8 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine, women who are pregnant with glucose levels in the higher range of normal -- but not high enough to be considered diabetes -- may be more likely than women with lower glucose levels to give birth to infants at risk of many of the same problems seen in infants born to women with diabetes during pregnancy. This 7-year study involved more than 23,000 women who were pregnant at 15 centres in 9 countries and is the first to document that higher glucose levels also convey increased risks. To conduct the study, the researchers performed an oral glucose tolerance test on each woman, from the 24th through the 32nd week of pregnancy. Women with glucose levels high enough to raise safety concerns were referred for treatment and were not included in the study. The remaining women were observed throughout the study until they gave birth. The researchers found that the higher the glucose levels of the mother, the greater the risk that they would deliver by Caesarean section. In addition, the higher the glucose levels of the mother, the more likely the infants were to have high insulin levels and low glucose levels at birth. When the study researchers mathematically adjusted for other potential causes of these risks, such as older maternal age, obesity, and high blood pressure, the increased risks due to higher glucose levels were still present. Both conditions indicate exposure to high glucose levels in the womb. Moreover, the higher the glucose levels of the mother, the more likely the women were to develop preeclampsia, the more likely their infants were to be born prematurely, and the more likely the infants were to experience shoulder dystocia. The authors noted that women with the lowest fasting glucose levels gave birth to abnormally large babies nearly 5% of the time, while women with the highest glucose level gave birth to large babies 26% of the time. "These relationships are continuous and generally increase incrementally over the range of blood glucose levels we saw in the study," said lead author Boyd E. Metzger, MD, Professor of Medicine, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, Illinois. The study authors declined to make recommendations for acceptable glucose levels for pregnant women, because they were unable to identify a precise level where an elevation in glucose increased the risk for any of the outcomes observed in the study. Rather, the chances for the outcomes were observed to increase gradually, corresponding with increases in the glucose levels of the women. At a consensus conference that is scheduled to take place June 11 to 13, 2008, in Pasadena, California, researchers, clinical experts, members of professional organisations, and others will discuss the findings and make recommendations based on the data. Additional US NIH funding was provided by the US NIH Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, US National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, and the National Center for Research Resources. SOURCE: US National Institutes of Health --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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.