Why in news?
According to a recent report, all pregnant women need to check themselves with the problem of Gestational diabetes Mellitus.
What is this issue?
- Gestatic diabetes mellitus (GDM) is characterized as a degree glucose sensitivity during pregnancy.
- GDM not only affects acute maternal and neonatal complications (preeclampsia, stillbirths, macrosomia, need for caesarean section) but also increase the risk of further Type 2 diabetes in mothers and babies.
- Low fetal blood glucose flow activates the fetal pancreatic cells to get insulin secreted earlier and in higher quantities when mother has high blood sugar. It is auto-perpetuated once initiated.
- The amniotic fluid is filled with glucose when the maternal glucose reading becomes high.
- When the fetus starts swallowing up amniotic fluid 20 weeks later, the insulin production gets increased,
- The prevalence of GDM in India according to world standards is very high. There is also a very high rate of conversion to type 2 diabetes.
- The number of Indians with type 2 diabetes mellitus is expected to reach 79.4 million by 2025.
