[Short-term and long-term risks for children born from patients with gestational diabetes]

Abstract

The risk of developing type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease in women who had previously been diagnosed with gestational diabetes (GDM) is well established. A growing body of literature suggests that chronic disease has much of its origins in the fetal response to the intrauterine environment, a concept known as "fetal programming". Longitudinal studies have demonstrated that higher rates of obesity impaired glucose tolerance, hypertension, and dyslipidemia are evident in the offspring of diabetic women. Furthermore, distinct differences in regional populations, lack of routine screening and treatment of GDM worldwide, and long follow-up periods for offspring represent a challenge in assessing the risk for development of these abnormalities in the offspring of women who have had GDM.