Every year, Randox Reagents support World Diabetes Day on the 14^th November. This year, the theme is ‘Women and diabetes – our right to a healthy future’ with the International Diabetes Federation running a campaign aiming to provide all women with diabetes with affordable and equitable access to care and education to better manage their diabetes and improve their health outcomes. A type of diabetes that affects women is gestational diabetes.

Gestational diabetes – what is it?

Gestational Diabetes Mellitus (GDM) is a form of diabetes which appears in pregnancy, characterised by high blood sugar due to the hormones produced in pregnancy, usually developing in the second or third trimester and disappearing after giving birth. This is a serious condition which can lead to the baby growing larger than usual and can coincide with premature birth, stillbirth and pre-eclampsia, which are detrimental to a mother’s health.

According to the International Diabetes Federation, 1 in 7 births is affected by gestational diabetes. In addition, approximately half of women with a history of GDM go on to develop type 2 diabetes within five to ten years after delivery.

Diagnosis and Monitoring of Gestational Diabetes

Due to the severe complications that can occur with gestational diabetes, it is extremely important to accurately diagnose and monitor the condition. Tests which are commonly used to diagnose diabetes include HbA1c and glucose, including fructosamine, which due to the shorter time span, is particularly useful to evaluate the effectiveness of medication changes and to monitor the treatment of gestational diabetes.

Complications associated with gestational diabetes include diabetic ketoacidosis, a serious complication of diabetes which occurs when blood sugar levels are consistently high and insulin levels are severely low, making it essential to measure D-3-Hydroxybutyrate levels. This is a niche test which is available from Randox Reagents – find out more here.

Preventing Gestational Diabetes

As well as diagnosing and monitoring gestational diabetes, it is important that women get tested early in order to put in place measures to help avoid developing diabetes, improving quality of life for themselves and their baby. Ways in which they can do this is through adopting a healthier lifestyle in terms of monitoring diet and getting regular exercise.

Randox offer an automated adiponectin test which predicts the risk of patients developing both gestational and Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM). Therefore, it is important to measure adiponectin before pregnancy as low concentrations are associated with reduced glucose tolerance during pregnancy and can identify women at high risk for gestational diabetes.¹

Innovations in diabetes testing has led to the ability to more accurately detect risk, diagnose and manage the complications of diabetes. Randox offer a wide range of diabetes reagents in an automated biochemistry format, allowing rapid and accurate assessment for both laboratory professionals and clinicians.

Join Randox Reagents on World Diabetes Day 2017 to help spread awareness and prevent gestational diabetes in women by providing them with access to education and improve their health outcomes!

 

Randox are dedicated to providing the highest quality tests for diabetes diagnosis, complications monitoring and risk assessment – download our diabetes brochure to find out more about what we have to offer!

For more information, please contact us at reagents@randox.com