Higher levels of fat equal higher risk of developing diabetes at 24 to 28 weeks of pregnancy
TUESDAY, Nov. 3, 2015 (HealthDay News) — Women with high levels of abdominal fat in their first trimester are at increased risk for diabetes later in pregnancy, according to research published online Nov. 2 in Diabetes Care.
The study included 485 women, aged 18 to 42, who had ultrasounds to assess their abdominal fat at 11 to 14 weeks of pregnancy. Those with higher levels of fat were more likely to develop diabetes at 24 to 28 weeks of pregnancy.
Previous research has also shown that between 20 and 50 percent of women who develop diabetes during pregnancy go on to develop type 2 diabetes within five years after their pregnancy, the study authors said.
“This study highlights the potential to screen patients in their early stages of pregnancy, and use abdominal fat to predict the development of diabetes,” study author Leanne De Souza, from St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto, said in a hospital news release. De Souza is research program manager at St. Michael’s and a Ph.D. candidate in obstetrics and gynecology at the University of Toronto.
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