Evidence shows higher long term risks from gestational diabetes

Women with gestational diabetes are at more risk of developing type 2 diabetes, with almost 20% of women developing the condition within nine years of pregnancy, a large, population based study of 659 000 women has found (CMAJ 2008;179:229-34).

The study, by researchers from the University of Toronto and Mount Sinai Hospital and the Institute for Clinical and Evaluative Sciences, in Toronto, looked at 21 823 women diagnosed as having gestational diabetes and examined follow-up records for up to nine years. They found that the rate of diabetes increased rapidly in the first nine months after delivery, peaking at nine years. …