Gestational Diabetes in pregnant women

Mid-Day

Mumbai : 9621 pregnant women detected with Gestational Diabetes Mellitus in past 5 years.

What is Gestational Diabetes ?

A form of high blood sugar affecting pregnant women.Those who develop gestational diabetes are at higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes later in life.Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) is a condition in which a hormone made by the placenta prevents the body from using insulin effectively. Glucose builds up in the blood instead of being absorbed by the cells.

Can have no symptoms, but people may experience:Whole body: excessive hunger, excessive thirst, or fatigue
Also common: fetal macrosomia, frequent urination, or yeast infection

How stress affects blood glucose levels?
Stress can increase your blood glucose levels. Stress can also cause you to turn to unhealthful behaviors such as overeating, eating unhealthful foods or smoking. Managing your stress and relaxing more will help you and your baby stay as healthy as possible.

Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) pregnant women are under more psychological stress than normal pregnant women. With the deepening of the study of gestational diabetes mellitus, research has shown that anxiety and depression are also an important cause of gestational diabetes mellitus. Anxiety and depression can cause imbalances in the hormone levels in the body, which has a serious impact on the pregnancy outcome and blood glucose control of pregnant women with GDM.

Study determined that being optimistic and submissive in coping with stress caused a decrease of the HbA1c level. The fact that those who were optimistic had lower HbA1c was an expected situation while the fact that those who were submissive also did was an unexpected result. The differences in the data may be due to those who perceived their situation as changeable adopting more active styles (being self-confident and optimistic), while those who perceived their situation as unchangeable were using feeling-oriented styles more (becoming submissive and desperate).31 In meta-analytical studies conducted with individuals with diabetes mellitus, the patients using effective coping styles, i.e. perceiving their situations as changeable (self-confident and optimistic), were found to have better glycemic control.32 Pregnant women with GDM in this study who had a high tendency towards the submissive type had a low HbA1c level because they generally had a low or intermediate socioeconomic level and believed that their GDM came from God; they associated their situation with religion and consequently perceived their situation as unchangeable. With this perception, it was easier for them to accept the disease and adapt to increases in GDM treatment, which led to decreased stress and lower HbA1c levels. The pregnant women who were self-confident in coping with stress were found to have less weight gain during pregnancy. The suspected reason is that being a healthy weight affects body image positively and is effective in coping with stress.

Use De-stress to adapt a change towards positive and healthy lifestyle.