Weight Tied To Gestational Diabetes

Overweight women with low levels of a key hormone are far more likely to suffer gestational diabetes during pregnancy, according to a new study by Kaiser Peremanente researchers.

The study of the blood samples of more than 4,000 women who later became pregnant discovered key links to gestational diabetes and levels of the hormone known as adiponectin. It found that women of normal weight were 3.5 times more likely to have developed gestational diabetes if their adiponectin levels were low compared to those who had normal levels. But overweight women with low levels of the hormone were 6.8 times likely to develop diabetes during gestation. 

Gestational diabetes is linked to birth complications and greater likelihood of adult onset diabetes in the mother.

“Our findings indicate important pregnancy interventions may be possible before a woman even conceives,” said Monique M. Hedderson, a principal investigator of the study and a Kaiser research scientist.