Obesity and Diabetes Link to Child Disorders

Obese women and those with Type 2 diabetes could be increasing their chances of having a child with autism or another development disorder, a US study suggests.

Researchers at the University of California Davis said that high glucose levels during pregnancy could affect brain development in the foetus.

The Paediatrics study looked at 1,000 children and mothers over seven years. Diabetes UK said further research was needed.

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In California, where the study was carried out, 1.3% of women have Type 2 diabetes and 7.4% have diabetes which developed during pregnancy.

The children in the study were aged between two and five years old and were enrolled between 2003 and 2010.

Obesity and Diabetes Link to Child Disorders

Among children whose mothers had Type 2 diabetes during their pregnancies, the study found that 9.3% of those children had autism. And 11.6% of that group of children showed evidence of a developmental disability.

This was nearly twice as high as the 6.4% of children with these problems born to women with no metabolic conditions.

Over 20% of the mothers of children with autism or other developmental disability were obese, compared with 14% of the mothers of normally developing children.

Communication skills

In the US, the study noted that 34% of women of child-bearing age are obese and nearly 9% are diabetic.

Around 29% of the children with autism had mothers with a metabolic condition during pregnancy, such as diabetes, high blood pressure and obesity.

Nearly 35% of the children with another developmental disorder had mothers with metabolic conditions, compared to 19% of children in the control group.

The study also examined the link between hypertension and autism or developmental disorder.

The prevalence of high blood pressure was low for all groups, but more common among mothers of children with autism or developmental disorder, although it was not statistically significant.

When analysing children’s cognitive abilities, the study found that among the children with autism, children of mothers with diabetes did not perform as well as children of non-diabetic mothers in tests of expressive language and communication skills.

And the presence of any metabolic condition was linked to lower scores on all of the tests among children without autism.

The authors say that obesity is a significant risk factor for diabetes and hypertension, and is characterized by increased insulin resistance.

Paula Krakowiak, from the MIND Institute at the University of California Davis, said: “Our finding that these maternal conditions may be linked with neurodevelopmental problems in children raises concerns and therefore may have serious public-health implications.”

Dr Matthew Hobbs, head of research at Diabetes UK, said more research was needed to answer questions not investigated in the study.

“It is important to note that while it does show an association, it does not show that diabetes causes developmental problems. We continue to advise that women with diabetes should tell their diabetes health care team if they are planning to become pregnant. They can then work together to make sure they are aware of the steps they should take to help them have a healthy pregnancy. “

Source: BBC News UK

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Cheap Device Reduces Premature Births

A cheap medical device can dramatically reduce the number of premature births in some at-risk women, according to a team of doctors in Spain.

Being born before 34 weeks of pregnancy is linked to a host of health problems.

The study, published in the Lancet, showed that using a “cervical pessary” reduced the rate in the at-risk group. Doctors said more studies were needed before the technique was used routinely.

Cheap Device Reduces Premature Births

The authors said 13 million babies were born prematurely every year.

In the trial, doctors were looking at women who had a cervix – part of the lower section of the uterus – which was shorter than 25mm. These pregnant women are thought to be at a higher risk of an early delivery.

The cervix was measured between 18 and 22 weeks into the pregnancy by an ultrasound scan. Of the 11,875 women who took part in the trial, 726 had a cervical length less than 25mm. Half of these women had a pessary, a small ring of silicone, inserted into their cervix.

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Pretty Amazing

In the group of women without the pessary, 27% of babies were born prematurely. The rate was six per cent among those fitted with a pessary.

Maria Goya, one of the researchers at the Vall d’Hebron Hospital, said: “Placement of a pessary is an affordable procedure, non-invasive, and easy to insert and remove as required.”

The study concluded the pessary was a “reliable alternative for prevention of preterm birth” in a group of at-risk women.

Prof Steve Thornton of the University of Exeter, a spokesman for the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, said: “The difference in the two groups is pretty amazing.”

He said more research was needed to prove that it worked, and to find out if it could help other women at risk of a premature birth. “If this is borne out it could make a big difference,” he added.

Drs Steve Caritis and Hyagriv Simhan, of the Magee Women’s Hospital in Pittsburgh, said the findings had “renewed enthusiasm for the cervix as a therapeutic target” in preventing premature births.

However, they warned that few women had a short cervical length, which made “this screening approach fairly inefficient”. They added: “Additional well-designed studies are needed before pessary use can be validated as an effective treatment.”

Source: BBC News UK

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