i keep hearing how regular diabetes is forever--but then you hear about gestational diabetes--and how everything goes back to normal after the pregnancy---wouldn't that mean that there could or should be a cure for regular diabetes too? or is gestational "diabetes" not really diabetes but just raised blood glucose? but they don't spike after eating carbs?just curious-tx for any ideas!
as far as I know-you can get your numbers way down--but you can't get back your regular response to sugar--? but women with gestational diabetes can....why?
NPN - Not true you can get rid of diabetes
ReplyDeleteIrena Gasevic - During pregnancy, placenta produces hormones that block the effects of insulin. Also, some other hormones are high during pregnancy (cortisol, estrogen, progesterone, hCG), and they also block the effects of insulin. But, the production of insulin is normal during the pregnancy. The only problem is that the other hormones block it's effects, so it can't get the glucose levels down. After the birth, there is no more placenta and its hormones, and other hormones return to normal. That is why the gestational diabetes is gone soon after the birth.
ReplyDeleteIn regular diabetes, the insulin production is below the average, and you can't get it up. That is why you can't get rid of it. In gestational diabetes, the insulin production is normal, but the demand is higher that the supply, and when the demand goes down, the supply is enough for the normal function of the body.
Tabea - This isn't strictly true, because a large number of women who get gestational diabetes do go on to get Type 2 diabetes later in life. This is most likely because they were genetically more prone to glucose intolerance in the first place. The gestational diabetes was just an early warning flag.
ReplyDeleteAll women have increased insulin needs during pregnancy. For example, I am a Type 1 and I don't make any insulin of my own. I am now 31 weeks pregnant and need 3-4 times the amount of insulin I took pre-pregnancy.
So for a lady with gestational diabetes, what's happening is that their bodies just can't keep up with this huge extra insulin requirement. That's why their blood sugars rise.
But the huge extra insulin requirement is just a temporary thing, because of the baby. Once baby's out, the body reverts to its normal insulin requirements. That's why gestational diabetes can 'go away'.
In comparison, Type 1 can never 'go away' because the body doesn't produce any insulin of its own, and there is no cure for that. In Type 2, the body still makes insulin, but it doesn't use the insulin efficiently. Diet and exercise can sometimes help to make the body use the insulin more efficiently. In that case, the diabetes is under control. But it doesn't go away because if the person goes back to eating a high carb diet, their blood sugars will rise again.
CarbonDated - Gestational diabetes is caused by hormones. MANY women who are diagnosed with gestational diabetes actually have pre-diabetes before they got pregnant. That is why the new recommendation is to do an A1C at the first appointment before hormones have an opportunity to act.
ReplyDeleteJohn W - Gestational diabetes is a change in the body's needs, you have two in the carriage but are only making enough for one. It goes away because the other occupant goes away. Regular diabetes is either when the insulin producing cells have been destroyed by the immune system (type 1) or you've become resistant to your own insulin (type 2), your insulin producing cells could also not be producing enough insulin.
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