Women with a history of GDM have a higher risk of getting cardiovascular diseases (CVD), such as coronary artery disease and stroke (1 -2). Women were reported to have experienced CVD events (dizziness, shortness of breath, sweating, sudden nausea) at a much younger age (2). Women with a history of GDM can develop risk factors for CVD such as metabolic syndrome, type 2 diabetes, and even hypertension after pregnancy (2-3). What is more worrying, women with a history of GDM had a high chance of being diagnosed with CVD as early as 10 years post-pregnancy (4) and almost half would be hospitalized due to CVD later (5).
Therefore, women with GDM should continue practicing healthy lifestyles even after pregnancy to reduce the risks of CVD. Taking care of your food intake and being physically active are essential to your future health. Start small by reducing your overall oil intake and taking at least 10,000 steps a day. Refer to your doctor and dietitian for more help in initiating and maintaining a healthy lifestyle.
- Tobias, D. K. , Stuart, J. J. , Li, S. , Chavarro, J. , Rimm, E. B. , Rich-Edwards, J. , Hu, F. B. , Manson, J. E. & Zhang, C. (2017). Association of History of Gestational Diabetes With Long-term Cardiovascular Disease Risk in a Large Prospective Cohort of US Women. JAMA Internal Medicine, 177 (12), 1735-1742. doi: 10.1001/jamainternmed.2017.2790.
- Carr, D. B., Utzschneider, K. M., Hull, R. L., Tong, J., Wallace, T. M., Kodama, K., Shofer, J. B., Heckbert, S. R., Boyko, E. J., Fujimoto, W. Y., & Kahn, S. E. (2006). Gestational diabetes mellitus increases the risk of cardiovascular disease in women with a family history of type 2 diabetes. Diabetes care, 29(9), 2078–2083. https://doi.org/10.2337/dc05-2482
- Daly, B., Toulis, K. A., Thomas, N., Gokhale, K., Martin, J., Webber, J., Keerthy, D., Jolly, K., Saravanan, P., & Nirantharakumar, K. (2018). Increased risk of ischemic heart disease, hypertension, and type 2 diabetes in women with previous gestational diabetes mellitus, a target group in general practice for preventive interventions: A population-based cohort study. PLoS medicine, 15(1), e1002488. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.
pmed.1002488 - Kessous, R. , Shoham-Vardi, I. , Pariente, G. , Sherf, M. & Sheiner, E. (2013). An association between gestational diabetes mellitus and long-term maternal cardiovascular morbidity. Heart, 99 (15), 1118-1121. doi: 10.1136/heartjnl-2013-303945.
- McKenzie-Sampson, S., Paradis, G., Healy-Profitós, J., St-Pierre, F., & Auger, N. (2018). Gestational diabetes and risk of cardiovascular disease up to 25 years after pregnancy: a retrospective cohort study. Acta diabetologica, 55(4), 315–322. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00592-017-1099-2
