LifeCare Chiropractic

The Best Chiropractic Care in Mesa, Arizona

gestational diabetes

Pre-eclampsia, Gestational Diabetes and Lifestyle Choices

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BETTER PREGNANCY OUTCOMES THROUGH LIFESTYLE?
The research is very heavily in support of the idea that healthy pregnancies begin long before a couple becomes pregnant.  Mom’s AND dad’s weight and health status dictate not only the health of the developing baby but the likelihood of getting pregnant in the first place. In fact, polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is the most common cause of infertility in women and it is, without a doubt, a product of a prediabetic lifestyle.
This particular study looks at the levels of oxidative stress in a woman’s body are higher in both gestational diabetes and pre-eclampsia.  This means that managing oxidative stress via exercise, a higher phytonutrient diet and  lower caloric intake beginning long before the decision to get pregnant can help improve the outcomes of pregnancy.

How to Avoid Gestational Diabetes’ Later Risk of Diabetes

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Women should learn how to avoid gestational diabetes; it greatly increases risk of diabetes in the future. A single decision after pregnancy is critical.

A diagnosis of gestational diabetes is darn near a sure thing when it comes to developing diabetes later in life.  Few things in the medical literature are as strongly linked as gestational diabetes and the later development of diabetes, as I have covered in a previous article that can be read here.

Of course, just like everything else, while the risk is high, it is not completely set in stone and the choices that you make can influence your risk.  But the first factor is understanding just how high your risk is.  I have found that many women who have been diagnosed with gestational diabetes do not really get the complete picture from their obstetricians.  Most know there is some risk, but just not how strong.

Without the knowledge of the impending danger, I don’t think women who experience gestational diabetes will be as dedicated to the lifestyle changes that are needed.  These of course include the standard recommendations that have been covered in details in prior posts, but include short burst aerobic exercise, avoiding refined carbohydrates, stress management and an increased intake of fruits and vegetables.

Turns out that, while these are very important, there’s another surprising factor that can slash your risk of developing diabetes after diabetes in pregnancy.

Breastfeeding.

Yup.  Nursing the little newborn baby that seemingly created the gestational diabetes problem in the first place will help.  Turns out, just like every other situation, that Mother Nature knew what she was doing.  Even if you developed gestational diabetes, nursing your baby as Mother Nature intended can go a long way towards fixing the problem.

In this particular article, researchers looked at how breastfeeding affected the later risk of developing diabetes after having diabetes in pregnancy.  Here’s what they found:

  1. Postpartum diabetes risk was dependent upon the treatment received during pregnancy (diet was stronger at protecting against later development of diabetes)
  2. In those women who breastfed their infants, the development of diabetes occur 10 years later than in women who did not nurse their infants.  (Tweet this)
  3. Nursing for >3 months led to the lowest overall risks.

The bottom line is that, if you experience gestational diabetes while pregnant (of course, it is sort of by default “gestational”) lifestyle changes are not an option to lower the massive risk you will have for developing diabetes later in life.

But, as if you needed additional reasons to nurse your baby (and, as expected, I have covered this topic extensively in a prior blog post that can be read here), breastfeeding for more than 3 months will have a dramatic affect in your risk of developing diabetes later in life.

So, if you were diagnosed with gestational diabetes, did your obstetrician fully explain the risks that you face in the future?

 

How To Prevent Gestational Diabetes Mellitus in 8 Easy Steps

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Being diagnosed with gestational diabetes mellitus almost guarantees you will be diabetic in the future, so you need to know how to prevent gestational diabetes.

To put things in perspective, being obese and at risk for GDM, but not actually being diagnosed with GDM had almost THIRTEEN times the risk of becoming diabetic in the future. That’s really, really high. But wait!  There’s more! Being obese AND being diagnosed with GDM led to over FORTY-SEVEN times higher risk. Nothing is certain, but this is one of the highest risks I think I’ve ever seen.

A more recent study threw elevated blood pressure during pregnancy into the mix as well and found that, in pregnant women who had experienced hypertension during their pregnancy, the later risk of developing diabetes was 508% higher. Interestingly, when they looked at the combination of hypertension, elevated cholesterol and obesity, the risk for progression to diabetes was again staggering 39.5 times higher risk. Maybe not as high as the previously mentioned study, but still strikingly high.

Given these numbers, any women diagnosed with diabetes of pregnancy needs to understand that the rest of their lives needs to be lived within the context of avoiding diabetes and making appropriate lifestyle choices.  If this is not taken into consideration, you can pretty much plan on becoming diabetic in the future.

Of course, the best option is to prevent gestational diabetes mellitus in the first place. Clearly an anti-diabetic lifestyle is key here.  Some key elements include:

  1. Continue with exercise, most likely some type of short-burst aerobic exercise
  2. Avoid refined carbohydrates / high fructose corn syrup, processed foods and high calories
  3. If an 8-yr-old can’t read the label, don’t buy it
  4. NO artificial sweeteners – Splenda, sucralose, Nutrasweet, aspartame, acesulfame K
  5. Avoid chemicals present in things like bottled water, flame retardants, bug / weed killer and Teflon
  6. Add olive oil, no added oil nuts, wild caught salmon
  7. Variety of fruits and veggies- 8-10 servings/ day

This particular study gives us an eighth option.

Researchers looked at vitamin D levels and their relationship to the diagnosis of gestational diabetes mellitus.  The findings are pretty clear cut.

Women with levels below <25 nmol/L 220% more likely to develop pregnancy related diabetes.

25 nmol / L is a pretty low cutoff. I personally prefer 60 or higher. To get here, most patients would need to supplement at least 4-6,000 IU / day of emulsified D3 to get to this level. I know that in our office, this translates to about $20 for the entire term of the pregnancy. Pretty inexpensive protection.

If you were diagnosed with gestational diabetes mellitus, had anyone explained to you how great your risk of developing diabetes was in the future?

SELECTIVE SEROTONIN AND ADVERSE PREGNANCY OUTCOMES – (05-29-06)

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Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors and adverse pregnancy outcomes

Some of the SSRIs have been promoted as safe during pregnancy, and yet I have major concerns with the damage to the developing fetus. Anytime a fetus is exposed to high levels of something (such as cortisol from a PTSD mother, glucose from gestational diabetes or, in this case, much higher levels of serotonin) the chance for a bad outcome after birth, when those high levels are no longer present, is there.

From this study, we see the risk to the fetus is actually quite serious. I would also recommend avoiding this class of drugs during breastfeeding as well for the same reasons.

Read entire article here

PREGNANCY BLOOD PRESSURE AND DIABETES – CAUSE FOR MASSIVE CONCERN

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Every pregnant woman knows she needs to watch her blood pressure and sugar levels during pregnancy. It’s not too uncommon for a pregnant patient to come into my office and state that she had blood pressure or sugar problems.  Or for a patient to have experienced these while pregnant in the past. They make changes and the problem goes away.  Or so we think…

I have found that patients are not fully educated on just how much these two conditions during pregnancy actually affect their risk for diabetes later in life. Many are told that they need to be careful and the discussion ends there.

However, we already know that, in the presence of obesity during pregnancy and a diagnosis of gestational diabetes (GDM), the chance of developing diabetes later in life goes beyond massive to almost a sure thing. A 3 pack a day cigarette smoker is less likely to develop lung cancer and heart disease than this pregnant woman developing diabetes. To be exact, this obese, pregnant patient diagnosed with GDM has a 4700% chance of becoming diabetic later in life.

This particular article looks at the relationship between high blood pressure during pregnancy and later development of diabetes and finds the connections just as disturbing. In pregnant women who had experienced hypertension during their pregnancy, the later risk of developing diabetes was 508% higher.  Interestingly, when they looked at the combination of hypertension, elevated cholesterol and obesity, the risk for progression to diabetes was again staggering–3950% higher risk. Maybe not as high as the previously mentioned study, but lets face it–anything over DOUBLE (200%) is bad enough.

When it comes to diabetes, nothing is set in stone, but clearly in these situations pretty dramatic lifestyle changes are required. Without these changes, diabetes is imminent.  If you had problems during your pregnancy, you will need to forever be vigilant with your lifestyle to avoid the development of diabetes.

GESTATIONAL DIABETES MASSIVELY INCREASES RISK OF DIABETES

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GESTATIONAL DIABETES MASSIVELY INCREASES RISK OF DIABETES.  We’ve always known that gestational diabetes (GDM) puts the mother at risk for diabetes and I’ve always tried to educate the patient that they are at much greater risk.  However, I never really realized just how much.  Being obese and at risk for GDM, but not actually being diagnosed with GDM had almost THIRTEEN times the risk of becoming diabetic.  That’s really, really high.  But wait!  There’s more!  Being obese AND being diagnosed with GDM led to over FORTY-SEVEN times higher risk.  Nothing is certain, but this is one of the highest I think I’ve ever seen.

The bottom line?  Before getting pregnant, a couple (NOT just the mother) needs to make changes to lower their weight.  If they become pregnant while obese and develop GDM, these patients have no option but hammer down on lifestyle to cut this massive risks down.