Jamie Barrand | Oct 23, 2015

Simple test can accurately predict likelihood of post-partum diabetes

Researchers at the Helmholtz Zentrum München, the German Research Center for Environmental Health, have developed a simple, accurate test that can predict a woman's probability of developing diabetes after she has given birth.

Findings of the research were published recently in Acta Diabetologica.

The symptoms of gestational diabetes typically go away once a woman gives birth.

Even so, women who suffer from gestational diabetes are at a higher risk of developing diabetes in the years following pregnancy.

The study used as test subjects 257 cases of gestational diabetes that occurred between 1989 and 1999 and were followed up for 20 years after delivery. Of the subjects, 110 developed post-partum diabetes.

"Body mass index (BMI) and genetic predisposition both play a role in our calculation, as does the question of whether the mother breastfed her baby and whether her gestational diabetes had to be treated with insulin," said Meike Köhler, first author of the study.

Based on those parameters, the researchers introduced a point system that allowed them to predict a woman's likelihood of developing postpartum diabetes.

"The test we developed is very easy to apply and in the future could be used in hospitals as a tool for predicting postpartum diabetes," professor Anette-Gabriele Ziegler, director of the Institute of Diabetes Research, said. "This means that both the doctor and the patient are aware of the respective risk, and it allows diabetes checks to be more closely tailored to the patient's individual needs."

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