Previous studies associated the long -term health risks of children with obesity or other metabolic disorders of mothers, such as type 2 diabetes (an inappropriate increase in blood glucose that manifests itself independently of pregnancy).But so far the gestational diabetes of type 1 had not been linked, much less frequent, with the health of children.
A new, study published in the JAMA magazine, and made in a group of more than 320,000 children, shows how the intrauterine exposure of type 1 Mellitus gestational diabetes is related to the development of some type of autistic spectrum disorder (TEA).
Severe diabetes without diagnosing can cause birth defects in the fetus brain during the first month of pregnancy.According to our investigation, the children of mothers with gestational diabetes diagnosed at 26 weeks may have been exposed to high levels of blood sugar, which can alter the development of the fetus brain, ”explains Anny H. Xiang to SincIn Kaiser permanent hospitals, Southern California (KPSC) in the US and main author of the work.
Calculate the risk of developing ASD
To reach these results, the American team analyzed the development of 322,323 children - of which 7% were exposed to the mother's gestational diabetes in the uterus - born between 1995 and 2009 in these medical centers.The scientists followed the long -term development of children from birth until in certain cases they developed ASD, or died for any reason.The monitoring of all children concluded on December 31, 2012.
On average, at five and a half years of birth, a total of 3,388 children were diagnosed with ASD.Of these, 115 were exposed to pre -existing type 2 diabetes in the mother, 130 children were in gestational diabetes with less than 26 weeks of pregnancy, and 180 from this period.The rest did not suffer any intrauterine exposure to a high sugar rate in the mother's blood.
According to the study data, the entire sample analyzed, regardless of whether or not the mothers had diabetes, one in every hundred children developed Tea.This figure is maintained even when the researchers focus on the 25,035 children whose mothers had gestational diabetes.Of these, 310 developed Tea.
Other factors influence disorder
The researchers collated the results with other indicators to avoid confusion regarding the two types of diabetes: "We include factors such as maternal age and family economic level to focus our attention on maternal diabetes and the risk of TEA in descendants," he saysThe expert.
The risk of hyperglycemia during pregnancy increases with an advanced maternal age, but there is no evidence that relates this type of diabetes and low family economic levels, although there are with type 2 diabetes. Then, the risk of TEA in children in childrenIncreases with an advanced maternal age and with low family income, ”says Dr. Xiang.
Other factors present in mothers such as smoking, a high body mass index or diabetes medication were independent of the increased risk of autistic spectrum disorders in children.
Despite the results, scientists are not still clear about the association between intrauterine biological characteristics with hyperglycemia and fetal development disturbance: “We do not know exactly their biological association.Hypoxia in the fetus, oxidative stress in the blood of the umbilical cord and its chronic inflammation or epigenetics - chemical reactions that modify the activity of the DNA - of the placental tissue could be some of the explanations, ”suggests, suggeststhe main author of the study.
For Xiang, medical control is decisive during pregnancy.“Women should consult their doctor to make sure that their blood sugar levels are normal.This is not only important for the health of the pregnant woman but also for that of her child, ”concludes the researcher.