Diabetes Mellitus is a chronic condition that happens when the body fails to produce insulin or when it can’t use insulin effectively. When this happens, blood sugar spikes leading to a condition called hyperglycemia.

There are 3 main kinds of diabetes. Type 1 diabetes, type 2 diabetes and gestation diabetes. In type 1 diabetes, also known as insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus, the body attacks its own cells leading to a deficit or total absence of insulin production. In type 2 diabetes, also known as, non-insulin dependent DM the body is unable to utilize insulin effectively. This usually results from lack of exercise and obesity. Gestational diabetes, on the other hand, is hyperglycemia that results due to pregnancy. The spike in blood sugar level often happens in the last part of pregnancy – the third trimester.

Gestational diabetes symptoms are similar to type 1 and 2 DM. The most commons signs of gestational diabetes are frequent urination, extreme hunger, extreme thirst, weight loss, irritability and blurred vision. For some women, pregnancy induced hypertension or gestational hypertension occurs as a result of hyperglycemia. Again, this condition should also be addressed because having high blood pressure can be dangerous to a woman in labor. The usual risk factors for this condition are obesity, lack of exercise, a history of gestational hypertension and those of African-American or Hispanic decent.

Gestational DM can be managed by taking medications to control blood sugar, exercise and by following a gestational diabetes diet. This involves creating a gestational diabetes meal plan. Some women can control their blood sugar without having to take medications. But for others, gestational diabetes medicine is really necessary. Doctors usually prescribe either insulin, Metformin or Glyburide. Metformine and Glyburide are both oral medications that help in balancing blood sugar levels.

The exact cause of gestational diabetes is not clear but pregnancy hormones are considered to be the main factor. According to some tests, hormones interfere with insulin action and prevent it from binding to the insulin receptor. Because of this, glucose builds up in the bloodstream. The abnormal amount of glucose in the blood crosses over to the placenta. This affects the growth of the fetus. In many cases this results in macrosomia or excessive fetal growth.

During pregnancy it is important that you undergo screening for gestational diabetes. This test is called glucose screen. This is done on the 24^th – 28^th week of pregnancy. Symptoms are not prevalent in gestational diabetes so one way to be sure is undergo glucose screening. The screening test is done by letting you ingest a sugar solution that has 50 g of glucose. After 1 hour you will be asked to come back and a blood sample is taken. The purpose of the test is to assess how efficient your body is in processing sugar. You should be able to know of the result in a couple of days. If your sugar level is too high you will have to undergo a 3-hour glucose tolerance test. This will confirm whether or not you do have gestational DM.

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