Gestational diabetes is diabetes that develops in pregnancy. In essence, it is basically type 2 diabetes, with the core issue being insulin resistance.
In different women, and differently even in any particular woman’s different pregnancies, it can come on earlier or later, more severely or in milder form.
This is a serious condition, which can impact the health of the mother and also especially impact the health of the growing fetus.
article LINK
“Gestational Diabetes in Mom Predicts Diabetes Risk in Dad: Cohort Study”
Veronica Hackethal, MD, August 21, 2015 on Medscape
“Women who develop GDM during pregnancy may have up to seven times increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes in later life, according to background information in the article. Past studies have shown that partners often share lifestyle habits — when one partner gains weight or becomes more physically active, the other one often does, too, according to Dr Dasgupta.“
“The analysis included 70,890 fathers, 50% of whom were partners of women with GDM. Over 90% of these men lived with their partners, and over 90% shared the same ethnocultural background as their partner.“
“After adjustment for age, comorbidities, cohabitation, ethnocultural background, and deprivation level, the risk of developing diabetes was 18% higher in fathers with partners with GDM compared with fathers with partners without GDM (HR, 1.18; 95% CI 1.09–1.27).“
“ “The key is that we acknowledge that genes and biological family history are big drivers for diabetes risk, but we can’t underplay the importance of our behaviors and our environments,” Dr Dasgupta emphasized. “It’s hard for individuals to make behavioral changes on their own. It’s really about communities and groups and, in this case, about families changing things together.”
“The findings of this study are really interesting because they highlight the fact that diabetes is not just about genetics, it’s also about the environmental impact. Partners will be living in similar neighborhoods, eating similar diets, and will probably have similar behaviors. If somebody is prone to have diabetes, then other people living in that household are also prone to have diabetes,” agreed Baiju Shah, MD, PhD, associate professor in the department of medicine at the University of Toronto, Ontario. “
( bold “ indicates my quotes from the article on Medscape)
Core Health MD 