Rising Gestational Diabetes Rates Among Pregnant Women in New Study

A study conducted at seven antenatal clinics with over three thousand women found that early gestational diabetes mellitus, or EGDM, affects about one in five pregnant women. The STRiDE study, involving two thousand seven hundred pregnant women from clinics in Chennai, Hyderabad, and Puducherry, published its findings in a recent edition of Diabetes Research and Clinical Practice.

The study revealed that the rates of both early and late gestational diabetes were climbing steadily, with EGDM at twenty-one point five percent and late gestational diabetes at nineteen point five percent.

Women were classified as having early GDM if they had a fasting blood sugar of ninety-two to one hundred twenty-five milligrams per deciliter, while late GDM had readings under ninety-two milligrams per deciliter.

GDM, defined as glucose intolerance first diagnosed during pregnancy, affects approximately fourteen percent of pregnancies worldwide and is usually diagnosed between twenty-four to twenty-eight weeks.

The STRiDE study aimed to assess the prevalence and risk factors of EGDM compared to late GDM in Asian Indian women and sought to develop a risk scoring system to predict late GDM during early pregnancy.

Early screening was performed before sixteen weeks of pregnancy using fasting plasma glucose and HbA1c, which measures the three-month average of blood sugar levels. If women had elevated sugar levels, further testing was conducted at twenty-four to twenty-eight weeks.

The study concluded that women with early GDM exhibited higher early-pregnancy weight, body mass index, waist circumference, blood pressure, and HbA1c levels, along with more frequent prior GDM and a family history of GDM.

Conversely, late GDM was more closely associated with a family history of diabetes. V. Mohan, an author of the paper and chairman of the Madras Diabetes Research Foundation in Chennai, stated that further studies are necessary.

In a separate ICMR study involving one thousand women, early GDM was diagnosed in nineteen point two percent of cases, while late GDM was found in twenty-three point four percent, indicating consistent results.

Mohan emphasized the need to evaluate optimal testing timing for GDM, identify the most effective tests, and explore treatment methodologies that improve outcomes and reduce side effects for the fetus.

In Western countries, only women with a family history of diabetes are screened, but in India, where GDM rates are nearly three to four times higher, comprehensive preparedness is essential. Further genomic and genetic studies are planned to investigate this issue in greater detail.