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Diabetes during pregnancy is more likely to affect women during summer months
A new study suggests that diabetes during pregnancy is more likely to develop during the summer months. Babies who are born after their mothers developed the disease during pregnancy have increased risks of complications during birth.
According to the new Italian research, among the complications, analysts mentioned malformations, low blood sugar or being born too small or too big. Women with diabetes were 36 percent more likely to give birth to a baby with low blood sugar, while the chance for women with diabetes during pregnancy was ten times greater. Moreover, women with gestational diabetes had a 70 percent greater chance of having an infant with jaundice. Their babies could also encounter malformations or low levels of magnesium or calcium.
A Swedish study that involved 11,500 pregnant women implies that gestational diabetes could be more likely to appear during the summer months.
The lead author of the survey, Dr. Anastasia Katsarou of Lund University, along with her colleagues analyzed women’s glucose tolerance explained by fluctuations in how quickly their bodies were processing the consumed amount of sugar. Moreover, they have also followed seasonal patterns in rates of diabetes developed during pregnancy.
During their 28th week, all pregnant women took a test to identify diabetes during pregnancy. Katsarou observed that more than 500 women were affected by the disease. Moreover, the risk of developing the condition increased from 2.9 percent in March to 5.8 percent in June according to the study.
With the increase of temperatures, the women’s blood sugar levels also raised. The conclusions of the survey showed that the rates of gestational diabetes were 51 percent lower during winter months than in summer months.
Moreover, the theory of why blood sugar levels are higher during summer months could be explained by the fact that hotter temperatures could influence the composition of the flowing blood. However, for now, this assumption is just a theory, and more studies must be made to establish if this is, in fact, the reason.
The director of the department of gynecology and obstetrics at Winthrop-University Hospital in Mineola believes that this research is a retrospective investigation on a non-American society. He also stated that it does not impact the care of pregnant females, either gestational or normal or diabetic.
Image source: Pixabay
