Advances in diabetes for the millennium: diabetes in women

Abstract

Diabetes mellitus may afflict men and women equally, but the suffering associated with diabetes when it appears in a woman affects every aspect of her life. As a young child, her growth and development as well as her emotional and intellectual functioning may be impaired. In addition, her puberty may be delayed or premature, and when she is ready for childbearing, her health may preclude a successful pregnancy and/or her chances of bearing a healthy child may be poor to impossible. With the advent of insulin and treatment programs to improve glucose control, the diabetic woman now has an opportunity to lead a near-normal life. As devices have automated insulin delivery and as the use of self-blood glucose monitoring has assisted in deriving a protocol of safely normalizing blood glucose, the health of a diabetic woman now is equal to her nondiabetic sister. This review outlines the rationale of programs of normalized glycemia for diabetic women and suggests strategies to achieve success.