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January 2013
Michelle Gaylord has lived more than 30 years with type 2 diabetes, but the diagnosis is one that she now sees a bit like a gift.
0 comments - Posted Jan 22, 2013
November 2012
It was more than two decades ago, and Penny Hildreth was already feeling overwhelmed by life when she learned that she had type 1 diabetes. She was pregnant with her second child and worried about the baby’s safety after a car accident that had left Hildreth with a broken collarbone, a broken rib, and a punctured spleen. It was the spleen injury that ultimately led to her diagnosis of diabetes, but she was more concerned about the baby, a little girl who was born healthy despite the automobile accident. “I always say that she’s my miracle,” says the 46-year-old Portland resident.
0 comments - Posted Nov 6, 2012
October 2012
Scientists generally think that decreased insulin production by the pancreas, a hallmark of type 2 diabetes, is due to the death of the organ's beta cells. However, scientists at Columbia University Medical Center report that the beta cells do not die, but instead revert to a more basic cell type.
0 comments - Posted Oct 16, 2012
August 2012
As diabetes climbs to epidemic levels in the United States, and finding adequate resources to fund future U.S. healthcare remains in question, the need for an already existing "boots on the ground" group that can address the disease is greater than ever.
0 comments - Posted Aug 15, 2012
July 2012
Swedish researchers report that a drop in A1C of less than one percentage point can lower the risk of death from cardiovascular disease among people with diabetes by nearly half. Specifically, they found that patients who reduced their A1C from 7.8% to 7.0% decreased their risk of dying from cardiovascular disease by 45 percent.
0 comments - Posted Jul 29, 2012
June 2012
I've had type 1 diabetes for nearly 14 years. I have fallen off the wagon a few times, battled diabulimia, survived numerous insulin shock comas and ketoacidosis episodes, and struggled with acceptance: I have my scars. Despite these mistakes, I've picked myself up countless times and have prevailed. I've persevered with a disease that doesn't take vacations for even a minute, and I've come out on top. I'm alive and healthy, with a full life and a child of my own.
0 comments - Posted Jun 21, 2012
Last year, I gave birth to my daughter and shared my pregnancy and birthing experiences with you. The pregnancy was a very difficult but extremely rewarding experience. A few months after our daughter was born, my husband and I discussed whether we'd have another child. On one hand, I went through several insulin shock comas, severe insulin resistance, and pre-eclampsia, ending in an emergency cesarean section. Because my first pregnancy was so tough, we weren't sure if we wanted to risk another one. On the other hand, if we did have two children, we wanted them to be very close in age so that they could bond well. We figured that if the two children were around fifteen months apart, then my daughter would be too young to feel any tension about having another baby in the house. We hoped they'd be close enough in age that they would always have one another as a companion.
0 comments - Posted Jun 18, 2012
May 2012
I've had type 1 diabetes for six years, and it never fails that during the dreaded "time of the month," I become increasingly insulin-resistant. Just looking at a carbohydrate makes my sugar skyrocket. I'm exhausted, and my mood goes from my usual positive to cranky and sensitive.
0 comments - Posted May 27, 2012
For people with diabetes, breakfast is more than just a morning meal. According to recent research, it may hold the key to good blood glucose numbers for the rest of the day.
0 comments - Posted May 11, 2012
April 2012
My oldest nephew, James, has a double whammy to deal with. His aunt, yours truly, has type 1 diabetes, and so does his father. I was in the room when my sister had an ultrasound during her pregnancy with James, and I clearly remember the doctor asking her if anyone in her family had diabetes. We shared a look as she informed the doctor of my diabetes and her husband's diabetes. I know we also shared a silent prayer as the reality hit us that diabetes might be passed on to her children.
0 comments - Posted Apr 27, 2012
The challenges of pregnancy are daunting on their own, but when you're diabetic, they can seem insurmountable. That's one of the reasons Cheryl Alkon wrote a book on the subject. Having type 1 diabetes herself, Alkon knew firsthand the challenges of controlling her disease during pregnancy, and of raising the kids who followed.
0 comments - Posted Apr 13, 2012
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration says that Levemir is safe for use by pregnant women and does not increase the risk of harm to children in the womb.
0 comments - Posted Apr 4, 2012
February 2012
During my 14 years with type 1 diabetes and my time spent interacting with the diabetes online community, I constantly hear the same theme: Doctors aren't listening to their patients, and their bedside manners are deteriorating. Every day, it seems, I hear about people who have been treated as if they are simply a number or dismissed as uneducated in their own health conditions.
0 comments - Posted Feb 26, 2012
As a woman with diabetes, you may have noticed that you face unique challenges, from where to place your insulin pump, to pregnancy, to hormone fluctuations. Many diabetes books offer general diabetes advice, but few focus on women beyond just a short chapter. That is, until now.
0 comments - Posted Feb 20, 2012
Up to seven years before she becomes pregnant, a woman's risk of developing diabetes during pregnancy can be identified based on routinely assessed measures of blood sugar and body weight, according to a Kaiser Permanente study published in the online issue of the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology.
0 comments - Posted Feb 19, 2012
My son learned to crawl last month. As a part-time stay-at-home dad, I found it both exciting and terrifying. Through crawling, my son has entered a new stage in life. He might have rolled or scooted a few feet before, but now he can see something in another room and make up his mind to go there.
0 comments - Posted Feb 10, 2012
January 2012
With the recent news of Paula Deen's battle with type 2 diabetes, diabetes has been getting some negative coverage in the media. I've even heard comments like " No wonder Paula Deen has diabetes when she eats so much sugar and butter." This is frustrating because it perpetuates the false stereotype that all people with diabetes are the same.
0 comments - Posted Jan 27, 2012
My baby girl had just been born. I was in the postoperation room after going through a cesarean section. My husband went to get my parents, who had been waiting for twelve hours in the waiting room. A nurse laid my little girl in an incubator next to my bed and checked her blood sugar, which was normal, in the mid-40 range. Fifteen minutes later the nurse checked her again, and it registered in the mid-30s. I watched as the nurse fed my baby her first ounces of food. I was still too numb to even know that I had legs, much less to be able to wiggle my toes.
0 comments - Posted Jan 6, 2012
As I explained in my previous articles, I was pre-eclamptic and was admitted to the hospital at 37 weeks. I had a migraine that lasted for ten hours after I entered the emergency room. I had experienced migraines before and knew that Tylenol wouldn't ease the pain, so I went untreated even in the hospital. About twelve hours after admission, I was brought to the women's floor, where I waited for my already injected Levemir supply to diminish in my bloodstream.
0 comments - Posted Jan 2, 2012
December 2011
Throughout pregnancy and all the way up until labor, I was adamant that I was not having a cesarean section. I was terrified of being cut open because I know that my healing time is longer due to my lowered immune system. In 2009, I had to go to the emergency room for an infection caused by cutting my leg while shaving, so how could I possibly heal after being opened up to birth a baby?
0 comments - Posted Dec 30, 2011
Diagnosed with diabetes at age 15, Brandy Barnes went on to a successful career as a pharmaceuticals salesperson, but she deeply missed having other diabetic women in her life to whom she could relate. Finally, after a difficult pregnancy, long thought, and prayer, she founded DiabetesSisters (www.diabetes.sisters.org), a North Carolina-based nonprofit organization that provides education and support to women of all ages with all types of diabetes. DS offers conferences, websites, blogs, and a "sister match" program, all designed to lessen feelings of isolation and deepen bonds of connection among women with diabetes.
0 comments - Posted Dec 28, 2011
Editor' Note: This article continues Katherine Marple's series on pregnancy with diabetes as a complicating factor. For previous articles, enter her name in the search feature at the top right-hand of this website. The next installment, "Birthing Options," will appear on December 30.
0 comments - Posted Dec 27, 2011
November 2011
Want a simple way to find out if you or someone you know is likely to develop type 2 diabetes? Just answer these three simple questions!
0 comments - Posted Nov 13, 2011
I thought I had seen it all as a person with diabetes. Going to college, marriage, moves, career changes, you name it. I had soldiered on through them all, my control shifting from tight to loose to somewhere in the middle as the situation changed. I had adapted pretty well, I told myself.
0 comments - Posted Nov 12, 2011
Final weeks of pregnancy! The third trimester brings about many more ultrasound scans and measurements taken to judge the growth and health of your child. You'll likely be visiting your OB/GYN or maternal fetal medicine office twice per week for non-stress tests to ensure that your baby is healthy and active.
0 comments - Posted Nov 9, 2011
Being your own advocate is imperative for women with diabetes, especially when it comes to gynecologic care. As soon as a young woman is ready to become sexually active, she needs to talk with her doctor about contraceptive options. This conversation should continue through the time when she is ready to stop taking contraceptives and prepare for a family.
0 comments - Posted Nov 5, 2011
By now you're halfway through pregnancy. You've managed to get through the stresses of insulin shock in the first trimester and insulin resistance beginning in the second trimester, and you're well on your way toward your third trimester. Congratulations! A moment of applause, please.
0 comments - Posted Nov 2, 2011
October 2011
Welcome to the second trimester! By now, many type 1s are experiencing fewer hypoglycemic episodes, and insulin resistance is just beginning to rear its head. You're on the other side of the miscarriage worry hump and getting settled into the pregnancy routine. Congratulations! Take a few minutes each day to celebrate your successes and pat your stomach with a smile, knowing you are doing the best you can to give your growing child everything she needs.
0 comments - Posted Oct 26, 2011
Being your own advocate is imperative for women with diabetes, especially when it comes to gynecologic care. As soon as a young woman is ready to become sexually active, she needs to talk with her doctor about contraceptive options. This conversation should continue through the time when she is ready to stop taking contraceptives and prepare for a family.
0 comments - Posted Oct 18, 2011
September 2011
A couple of factors lead to increased risk of insulin shock comas during the first trimester. For many, insulin sensitivity increases and the pancreas isn't yet producing the hormones associated with insulin resistance. In addition, many type 1s will be taken off of their current basal insulin if it is not yet approved for use during pregnancy.
0 comments - Posted Sep 27, 2011
February 2011
It's hard enough to be pregnant, but pregnancy with diabetes is especially challenging because it's so difficult to keep blood sugar within a normal range at a time when hormones are surging. All women try their best with the tools that they have, but even so, about half of all babies born to mothers with type 1 diabetes are overweight or obese at birth because of too much sugar in their mothers' blood. Mothers with high blood glucose levels also increase their child's risk of congenital malformation, stillbirth, neonatal death, preterm delivery, and neonatal admission.
0 comments - Posted Feb 9, 2011
December 2010
If you have a new infant in your family and a family history of type 1 diabetes, feeding your baby a special formula when weaning off breastfeeding may protect against the development of the antibodies associated with type 1 diabetes, thus potentially shielding your child from developing the disease itself. This is the finding of a new study, conducted by Finnish researchers, that was published in the November 11 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.
0 comments - Posted Dec 4, 2010
November 2010
When I was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes 23 years ago, I remember being told that having children would be a very difficult challenge. I was seven years old at the time - still a child myself - and had no interest in becoming a mom. My own mother was very distressed at this news, but I didn't pay it any mind. I had other things to focus on: trees to climb, bikes to ride, and friends to play with.
0 comments - Posted Nov 18, 2010
August 2010
Women who deal with gestational diabetes in their first or second pregnancy are far more likely to develop the condition again in their third pregnancy, according to a new study from Kaiser Permanente that examined the electronic medical records of 65,132 women. The study was published online in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology last month.
0 comments - Posted Aug 11, 2010
May 2010
Most women with gestational diabetes know that taking steps to manage the disease during pregnancy is critical for the health of both mother and child. What many women don't realize is that those steps need to continue even after the baby is born.
0 comments - Posted May 7, 2010
April 2010
The first concrete evidence of a genetic link between low birth weight and the potential for developing type 2 diabetes has been published in the April 6 issue of the journal Nature Genetics. Scientists previously believed that lower birth weight babies were more at risk, but the cause remained unclear.
0 comments - Posted Apr 11, 2010
March 2010
Suggested revisions in the benchmarks used to assess dangerously high blood sugar levels in pregnant women could lead to a doubling or tripling of the number of women diagnosed with gestational diabetes*. That's the conclusion of an international study led by the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago.
0 comments - Posted Mar 24, 2010
December 2009
A 20-year study that tracked 704 women from before their first pregnancy onward suggests that the first year mothers breastfeed, they reduce their risk of acquiring type 2 diabetes within the next 15 years by 15 percent. Each subsequent year of breastfeeding further reduces the risk by 15 percent. For example, a mother who has two children and breastfeeds each for a year could enjoy a 30 percent reduction in her risk of type 2 over a 15-year period.
0 comments - Posted Dec 25, 2009
October 2009
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) Oct 13 - Women with metabolic syndrome in early pregnancy have a higher risk for preterm birth, according to study findings reported in the October 1st issue of the American Journal of Epidemiology.
0 comments - Posted Oct 16, 2009
Nature is wonderfully complex. During the second trimester of pregnancy, when the fetus is growing rapidly, hormones from the placenta begin to reduce the ability of the mother's insulin to bind with insulin receptors. Because the mother's insulin is consequently less able to shuttle glucose out of her bloodstream, the growing fetus is guaranteed a good supply of blood glucose.
0 comments - Posted Oct 6, 2009
July 2009
The Organic Center (TOC), a leading research institute focused on the science of organic food and farming, announced that a balanced, organic diet-both before and during pregnancy-can significantly reduce a child's likelihood of becoming overweight or obese or developing diabetes.
0 comments - Posted Jul 17, 2009
Women who frequently snore-at least three nights a week-run a substantially higher risk of developing gestational diabetes during pregnancy than non-snorers.
0 comments - Posted Jul 9, 2009
April 2009
There is an old schoolyard chant that starts out with an image of two people "sitting in a tree" and "K-I-S-S-I-N-G." This is followed by, "First comes love, then comes marriage, then comes the baby in the baby carriage." The natural progression of life is to find one's "soul mate," tie the knot, and then have children.
0 comments - Posted Apr 17, 2009
Pregnant women who have gum disease run a higher risk of developing gestational diabetes than pregnant women who have healthy gums, says a study from the New York University College of Dentistry.
0 comments - Posted Apr 16, 2009
A study in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism of The Endocrine Society says that low birth weight could be associated with a higher incidence of inflammation in adulthood, setting the stage for heart disease and type 2 diabetes.
0 comments - Posted Apr 15, 2009
February 2009
A report in the February 4, 2009, issue of Cell Metabolism says that babies born with neonatal diabetes might be able to avoid irreversible damage to the pancreas if doctors treat them quickly with sulfonylureas rather than insulin.
0 comments - Posted Feb 25, 2009
January 2009
You've been diagnosed with diabetes because there is too much glucose (a kind of sugar) in your blood.
0 comments - Posted Jan 16, 2009
November 2008
Becoming pregnant for the first time can be overwhelming for any woman, especially if that woman has diabetes. When my husband and I decided we were ready to have children, the first thing I did was make an appointment with my endocrinologist. Diagnosed when I was fourteen, I've had type 1 diabetes for twenty-four years. My doctor explained that I would need to be in tight control for three months before I could even think about babies, so I got right to work. Learning everything I could about diabetes and pregnancy, I was pleased to discover that with education, support, and practice, a woman with diabetes has every opportunity for a healthy pregnancy.
0 comments - Posted Nov 17, 2008
August 2008
Babies delivered by Caesarean section have a 20 percent higher risk than normal deliveries of developing type 1 diabetes in childhood, according to a study by a team of researchers from Queen's University Belfast
0 comments - Posted Aug 28, 2008
June 2008
Dear friends of Diabetes Health,
We value your hard-earned diabetes wisdom and we want you to share it with the world! Please join us as a professional or lay diabetes advisor in one of our Diabetes Health website content Rooms.
0 comments - Posted Jun 6, 2008
February 2008
A study at Copenhagen University Hospital in Denmark says there is a link between type 1 or pregnancy-related diabetes in mothers and the later onset of type 2 diabetes in their children.
0 comments - Posted Feb 26, 2008
December 2007
When a woman is pregnant, she needs to produce more insulin than usual because her body is feeding more cells than normal. A hormone, prolactin, which is abundant during pregnancy, causes more pancreatic islet cells to grow in order to produce the extra insulin.
0 comments - Posted Dec 30, 2007
October 2007
The higher your blood glucose is during pregnancy, the greater your child's chances of growing up to be obese, according to a recent study published in Diabetes Care.
0 comments - Posted Oct 15, 2007
September 2007
When I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes last year, my doctors and I were rather shocked. I was only 27 years old at the time, slender and in good shape. Diabetes does run in my mother's side of the family, so I wasn't completely taken aback.
0 comments - Posted Sep 28, 2007
July 2007
Two-thirds of pregnancies in women with diabetes are unplanned. How long after conception do those women realize they're pregnant? They may be eight weeks into their pregnancy before they know it's happened.
0 comments - Posted Jul 14, 2007
How elevated does your blood sugar have to be before you're diagnosed with gestational diabetes? Not near as elevated as we used to think, according to the findings of the Hyperglycemia and Adverse Pregnancy Outcome (HAPO) Study.
0 comments - Posted Jul 10, 2007
June 2007
Gestational diabetes affects about 5% of all women in late pregnancy. About a third of those women will go on to develop type 2 diabetes within five years, says a recent study in the Post-Graduate Medical Journal, and it'll most likely be the women who had the highest A1c's during their gestational diabetes.
0 comments - Posted Jun 27, 2007
Imagine your delighted shock if, after living with type 1 diabetes since infancy, you suddenly learned that you weren't type 1 after all. If you were diagnosed with type 1 diabetes within the first six months of life, especially if your birth weight was low, there's a chance that instead you have permanent neonatal diabetes mellitus (PNDM).
0 comments - Posted Jun 15, 2007
April 2007
Women with diabetes are up to five times more likely than the general population to have a baby with birth defects, especially of the heart and spinal cord, organs that form within the first few weeks of pregnancy.
0 comments - Posted Apr 17, 2007
On January 30, 2007, the FDA upgraded NovoLog (a fast-acting insulin analog from Novo Nordisk) from Category C to Category B, thereby indicating that NovoLog is safe and effective for pregnant women with type 1 and their unborn children.
0 comments - Posted Apr 16, 2007
March 2007
Boston - March 5, 2007 - Over the past several years, Joslin Investigator Mary R. Loeken, Ph.D., and her colleagues at Joslin Diabetes Center have unlocked several mysteries behind what puts women with diabetes more at risk of having a child with birth defects.
0 comments - Posted Mar 21, 2007
February 2007
UK researchers says that breastfeeding in infancy is associated with “a reduced risk of type 2 diabetes, with marginally lower insulin concentrations in later life, and with lower blood glucose and serum insulin concentrations in infancy.”
0 comments - Posted Feb 1, 2007
December 2006
Regardless of maternal diabetes or weight status, Harvard researchers say that breastfeeding is “inversely associated” with childhood obesity. The researchers urge all mothers to breastfeed their infants to reduce the risk for childhood obesity.
0 comments - Posted Dec 1, 2006
September 2006
Angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors have always been a popular therapy for diabetics trying to keep their blood pressure in line. However, researchers now say that if you are pregnant and suffer from high blood pressure, you should stay away from ACE inhibitors during the first trimester.
0 comments - Posted Sep 1, 2006
August 2006
Iowa researchers examined the effect of state policy and perceived state policy on pediatricians’ attitudes toward newborn screening for type 1 diabetes.
0 comments - Posted Aug 1, 2006
July 2006
At intervals of five days after giving birth and then four months after giving birth, Danish researchers interviewed 102 women with type 1 about breastfeeding. The type 1 women’s breastfeeding habits were then compared to a large random sample from the general population of Danish women.
0 comments - Posted Jul 1, 2006
Years ago it was common for women to indulge their food cravings during pregnancy, and usually without ill effect. Now it is vital that women of childbearing age understand the importance of good nutrition before pregnancy and how to decrease their risk of diabetes during pregnancy.
0 comments - Posted Jul 1, 2006
April 2006
Dutch researchers say that treatment of diabetes in pregnant women should be aimed at achieving A1C levels within the range of 6% or less. They add that “a minimum of 10 self-monitored blood glucose determinations daily is necessary to obtain adequate information of all daily glucose fluctuations.”
0 comments - Posted Apr 1, 2006
A recent report in The Practicing Midwife suggests that women with diabetes should be “encouraged and supported to breastfeed their babies from birth by giving them an understanding of the general and specific benefits this will provide.”
0 comments - Posted Apr 1, 2006
On January 7, 2006, I gave birth to a beautiful baby girl named Ava Grace Baker. She was 8.4 pounds and 20.25 inches long. It took 30 hours, but it was worth every moment. Well, almost every moment.
0 comments - Posted Apr 1, 2006
March 2006
Fetal and neonatal exposure to nicotine may increase a child’s risk of becoming obese and developing type 2 diabetes later in life.
0 comments - Posted Mar 1, 2006
Are you an expectant mother with diabetes? If so, are you wondering about the disappearance of infusion sites as your baby grows and your abdomen expands? Do you anticipate that “pinching an inch” will become more of a challenge? Are you concerned about the angle and depth of insertion, and how often you should rotate insertion sites? Here are a few suggestions for you:
0 comments - Posted Mar 1, 2006
January 2006
Czech researchers say that not breastfeeding a child may increase its chances of developing type 1 diabetes.
0 comments - Posted Jan 1, 2006
October 2005
I have some exciting news: As of January 2006, there will be another human being in our household.
0 comments - Posted Oct 1, 2005
February 2005
Not even 20 years ago, it was uncommon for a woman with diabetes to choose to have children of her own. Many doctors discouraged attempting pregnancy based on the high incidence of complications that both a mother and an infant could suffer due to poor blood glucose control.
0 comments - Posted Feb 1, 2005
March 2004
Common maternal infections during pregnancy and in the postnatal period may predict a significantly lower risk of islet autoimmunity in young female offspring genetically disposed for type 1, according to a study at Colorado Health Sciences Center in Denver.
0 comments - Posted Mar 1, 2004
July 2003
A push to screen children for diabetes at birth in Finland has identified about 75 percent of those who later developed diabetes at an early age.
0 comments - Posted Jul 1, 2003
A push to screen children for diabetes at birth in Finland has identified about 75 percent of those who later developed diabetes at an early age.
0 comments - Posted Jul 1, 2003
March 2003
Better get your blood glucose under control before you even think about getting pregnant.
0 comments - Posted Mar 1, 2003
December 2002
Women who have repeated miscarriages are likely to be insulin-resistant, according to researchers at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center.
0 comments - Posted Dec 1, 2002
Women who have repeated miscarriages are likely to be insulin-resistant, according to researchers at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center.
0 comments - Posted Dec 1, 2002
November 2002
Iceland, which has a higher percentage of overweight people than its neighboring countries, also has a lower incidence of type 2 diabetes—often associated with obesity. Why the seeming contradiction? One reason might be that Iceland also has a higher percentage of bigger babies.
0 comments - Posted Nov 1, 2002
October 2002
Does contracting an enterovirus infection early in pregnancy lead to a higher risk of your child having type 1 diabetes? Not necessarily, say researchers in Finland, which has the world's highest incidence of type 1 diabetes, according to statistics from the World Health Organization.
0 comments - Posted Oct 1, 2002
Does contracting an enterovirus infection early in pregnancy lead to a higher risk of your child having type 1 diabetes? Not necessarily, say research-ers in Finland, which has the world's highest incidence of type 1 diabetes, according to statistics from the World Health Organization.
0 comments - Posted Oct 1, 2002
September 2002
A 37-year-old woman with type 1 diabetes who was pregnant with her second child was able to eliminate frequent severe hypoglycemic episodes after being switched from NPH insulin to Lantus (insulin glargine), report two doctors and a nurse practitioner in a letter to Diabetes Care.
0 comments - Posted Sep 1, 2002
May 2002
"Breastfeeding is the optimal way of providing ideal food for the health, growth, and development of human infants while simultaneously benefiting the lactating mother."
0 comments - Posted May 1, 2002
February 2002
Pregnant women with type 1 diabetes who have microalbuminuria, or increased levels of protein in the urine, are much more likely to deliver prematurely, according to a study from Denmark.
0 comments - Posted Feb 1, 2002
January 2002
Women with retinopathy—a diabetes complication that can lead to blindness—should have their eyes checked regularly during pregnancy, say researchers in the United Kingdom.
0 comments - Posted Jan 1, 2002
After-meal glucose levels can vary in women with gestational diabetes depending on when they take the measurements, say researchers in Israel.
0 comments - Posted Jan 1, 2002
November 2001
Breastfeeding for three months or more may help prevent diabetes in children, say researchers in Chile. Their study, one of many to reach the same conclusion, focused on how breastfeeding affected the levels of three types of islet-cell antoantibodies in children with type 1 diabetes. Researchers published their findings in the June issue of the Medical Magazine of Chile (Revista Medica de Chile).
0 comments - Posted Nov 1, 2001
October 2001
Only half of women with type 1 diabetes begin taking folic acid before they get pregnant, according to the results of a survey taken in England. The failure of a significant number of women with diabetes to take this critical supplement is due to "lack of awareness of its importance," say researchers. C.J. Wills, MRCP, of the Queen's Medical Centre in Nottingham, UK, and colleagues reported their findings in the May issue of Practical Diabetes International.
0 comments - Posted Oct 1, 2001
September 2001
I am in my 32nd week of pregnancy with my second child, and I wonder if I have developed gestational diabetes.
0 comments - Posted Sep 1, 2001
August 2001
Pregnant women who use lispro (Humalog) have better blood-sugar control and few incidents of hypoglycemia during pregnancy, say researchers in both Germany and Colorado. In addition, German researchers say babies born to mothers who use Humalog have a better outcome and those in Colorado say the need for caesarian section is reduced in women who use Humalog.
0 comments - Posted Aug 1, 2001
July 2001
I am in my 32nd week of pregnancy with my second child and I wonder if I have developed gestational diabetes.
0 comments - Posted Jul 1, 2001
I am in my 32nd week of pregnancy with my second child and I wonder if I have developed gestational diabetes. Diabetes does not run in our family, and I am not overweight. Furthermore, I did not develop gestational diabetes with my first child.
0 comments - Posted Jul 1, 2001
May 2001
Taking cod liver oil during pregnancy reduces risk of type 1 diabetes in offspring, researchers say.
0 comments - Posted May 1, 2001
April 2001
Short-term breast feeding may increase a child's chance of getting diabetes, says a study conducted by researchers in Finland.
0 comments - Posted Apr 1, 2001
March 2001
Diabetic women who are planning to become pregnant are advised to wait until their HbA1c is below 7.5%.
0 comments - Posted Mar 1, 2001
October 2000
New parents who have type 1 diabetes can rest assured that breastfeeding does not increase their babies' chances of developing the disease.
0 comments - Posted Oct 1, 2000
November 1999
I am 28 years old and I've had juvenile diabetes for 21 years. I want to try for a family. I'm concerned about my frequent dropping out with low blood sugars at any given time, for a hundred different reasons (hormone levels is one). My big question is, how low can your blood sugars go before it starts to harm a fetus? Or, is it a matter of how long you have a low blood sugar?
0 comments - Posted Nov 1, 1999
October 1999
Researchers found that newborns who develop illnesses are more likely to develop type 1 diabetes, while infants who are breast-fed are less likely to develop the disease.
0 comments - Posted Oct 1, 1999
August 1999
Pregnant women with type 1 diabetes can have healthy deliveries if they maintain a good HbA1c during early pregnancy.
0 comments - Posted Aug 1, 1999
May 1999
Researchers in Sweden say that islet autoantibodies are already common at birth in children who develop type 1 diabetes later in life, and that screening for islet cell autoantibodies at birth could be a crucial step in identifying those at risk for developing type 1 diabetes.
0 comments - Posted May 1, 1999
April 1999
Researchers at the Channing Laboratory in Boston have discovered that babies who are born with a low birth weight are more likely to develop type 2 diabetes as they get older.
0 comments - Posted Apr 1, 1999
September 1998
Caroline was 29 when she first came to my office in October 1994 for evaluation of her type 1 diabetes. Just over 5 feet tall and weighing 122 pounds, she was a petite and vivacious woman, happily married with one child, and working part-time.
0 comments - Posted Sep 1, 1998
February 1998
Some women with type 1 diabetes will need additional insulin during their pregnancy and a new blood test can reveal one reason why.
0 comments - Posted Feb 1, 1998
September 1997
A recent NIDDK study of Pima Indians in Arizona showed that babies who were breast fed were less likely to develop type 2 diabetes.
0 comments - Posted Sep 1, 1997
March 1997
Exercise can increase contractions in pregnant women with diabetes leading to pre-term labor. But this does not mean that exercise has to stop altogether. Leona Dang-Kilduff, a pregnancy adviser at the Diabetes and Pregnancy Center at the Good Samaritan Hospital in San Jose, recommends that women who continue their exercise program into pregnancy maintain an acute awareness of their contractions.
0 comments - Posted Mar 1, 1997
June 1996
I often hear women with diabetes say they can't breast feed, but the truth is many health care professionals feel women should-because of their diabetes. Breast feeding is thought to decrease the autoimmune process that attacks the pancreas and causes diabetes, and may reduce your child's chances of getting diabetes.
0 comments - Posted Jun 1, 1996
May 1996
The Precision QID passed a recent test, proving itself accurate enough to be used by pregnant women.
0 comments - Posted May 1, 1996
January 1996
The November 1995 issue of Diabetes Care reported that women who take oral hypoglycemic drugs have a better chance of delivering a healthy baby than do women with poor glycemic control.
0 comments - Posted Jan 1, 1996
September 1995
In 1994, Universal Press Syndicate published a report stating that diabetes is twice as deadly as breast cancer in women. Linda Geiss, a researcher in Atlanta, wanted to find out if this statistic was accurate.
0 comments - Posted Sep 1, 1995
March 1995
I am writing from my personal perspective about diabetes and pregnancy for two reasons: One, because I am a mother and a type I diabetic, and two, because I am a big believer in the virtues of a diabetes and pregnancy team. I don't think I could have had a successful pregnancy without it. I wanted the perfect baby, but, given my medical problems and diabetes, I knew I needed help.
0 comments - Posted Mar 1, 1995
January 1995
A more dilute glucose solution was used by the University of Texas Health Science Center ant San Antonio to screen women for gestational diabetes, and the results seem promising for women who dread taking the test.
0 comments - Posted Jan 1, 1995
November 1994
Thirty seven insulin dependent pregnant women and ten women with gestational diabetes were studied by Peking Union Medical Hospital to determine if there was a connection between breast feeding and insulin needs.
0 comments - Posted Nov 1, 1994
January 1994
A study to determine the cost benefit of preconception (before pregnancy) care in addition to prenatal (during pregnancy, before birth) care for women with insulin dependent diabetes found that the cost of preconception care is more expensive at the outset ($17,519 per delivery, versus $13,843 per delivery).
0 comments - Posted Jan 1, 1994
April 1993
Results of a recent pilot program show that preconception counseling for women with diabetes reduces birth defects from 6.5% to 1.6% and fetal/newborn deaths from 21.1% to 6.4%. The pilot program, conducted by the Maine Department of Human Services, gave counseling to health care providers as well as women with diabetes who were planning a pregnancy. Continuing education courses instructed both groups in ways to avoid diabetes related problems in pregnancy.
0 comments - Posted Apr 1, 1993
February 1993
A study from the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at Rigshospitalet, Denmark, has concluded that women with previous gestational diabetes mellitus have a considerably increased risk of developing diabetes later on in life. The report was published in the September 1992 issue of Am J Obstet Gynecol.
0 comments - Posted Feb 1, 1993