Diabetes is a disease that affects the body’s ability to produce or respond to Diabetes falls into two main categories: type 1, which usually occurs during …
DIABETES FACTS
WOMEN AND DIABETES
What Is Diabetes?
Diabetes is a disease that affects the bodys ability to produce or respond
to insulin, a hormone that allows blood glucose blood sugar to enter the
cells of the body and be used for energy Diabetes falls into two main
categories: type 1, which usually occurs during childhood or adolescence,
and type 2, the most common form of the disease, which usually occurs after
age 45, but is increasingly being diagnosed in children and adolescents
How Does It Affect Women?
Approximately 91 million or 89 of all women in the United States have
diabetes, however, about a third of them do not know it The prevalence of
diabetes is at least 2-4 times higher among African American,
Hispanic/Latino, American Indian, and Asian/Pacific Islander women than
among white women Because of the increasing lifespan of women and the
rapid growth of minority populations, the number of women in the United
States at high risk for diabetes and its complications is increasing
Diabetes is the fifth-deadliest disease in the United States, and it has no
cure Women with diabetes have an increased
risk of vaginal infections and
complications during pregnancy For women who do not currently have
diabetes, pregnancy brings the risk of gestational diabetes Gestational
diabetes develops in 2 to 5 of all pregnancies but disappears when a
pregnancy is over Women who have had gestational diabetes are at an
increased risk for developing type 2 diabetes later in life
Women and Diabetic Complications
The risk for cardiovascular disease, the most common complication
attributable to diabetes, is more serious among women than men
Deaths from heart disease in women with diabetes have increased 23
percent over the past 30 years, compared to a 27 percent decrease in
women without diabetes
The risk of diabetic ketoacidosis DKA is 50 percent higher among women
than men DKA, often called diabetic coma, is a condition brought on by
poorly controlled diabetes and marked by high blood glucose levels and
ketones by-products of fat metabolism in the blood Although it is
accompanied by high blood glucose levels, DKA is not caused by high blood
sugar; it is caused by lack of insulin Before insulin therapy was
available, DKA was the predominant cause of death
from diabetes
Women with diabetes are 76 times as likely to suffer peripheral vascular
disease PVD than women without diabetes PVD is a disorder resulting in
reduced flow of blood and oxygen to tissues in the feet and legs The
principal symptom of PVD is intermittent claudication pain in the thigh,
calf, or buttocks during exercise
Pregnancy and Diabetes
Pregnancy demands more insulin in the body than normal because of the
increased production of hormones that can lead to insulin resistance For
women with diabetes, excellent blood
glucose control before conception and then throughout pregnancy is
vital to the health of the baby and the mother
The rate of major congenital malformations in babies born to women with
preexisting diabetes varies from 0 to 5 percent among women who receive
preconception care to 10 among women who do not receive preconception
care
Between 3 to 5 percent of pregnancies among women with diabetes result in
death of the newborn within 28 days This compares to a rate of 15 for
women who do not have diabetes
Macrosomia, large birth weight, occurs 2 to 3 times more often in diabetic
pregnancies as in the general population Because of the
increased risk of
fetal macrosomia, women with diabetes are 3 to 4 times more likely to have
a cesarean section
Women with diabetes are up to 5 times as likely to develop toxemia a
disorder of unknown cause usually marked by hypertension, protein in the
urine, edema, headache, and visual disturbances and hydramnios excessive
amounts of amniotic fluid as women without diabetes
Approximately 2 to 5 percent of all non-diabetic pregnant women develop
gestational diabetes, a form of diabetes that occurs only during pregnancy
Approximately 40 percent of women with gestational diabetes who are obese
before pregnancy develop type 2 diabetes within 4 years The chance of
developing diabetes during this same period is lower if the women are less
overweight
Diabetes and Birth Control
Birth control pills can affect blood glucose levels and diabetes control
The intrauterine device IUD may lead to infections Because women with
diabetes are already at a higher risk of infection, most should not use the
IUD
What Is Needed?
In ideal circumstances, women with diabetes will have their disease under
good control and be monitored frequently by a health care team
knowledgeable in the care of
diabetes
Patient education is critical People with diabetes, with the help of
their health care providers, can reduce their risk for complications if
they are educated about their disease, learn and practice the skills
necessary to better control their blood glucose levels, as well as blood
pressure and cholesterol levels, and receive regular checkups from their
health care team Smokers should stop smoking, and overweight women with
diabetes should develop moderate exercise regimens under the guidance of a
health care provider to help them achieve a healthy weight
Health care team education is vital Because people with diabetes have a
multi-system chronic disease, they are best monitored and managed by highly
skilled health care professionals trained with the latest information on
diabetes to help ensure early detection and appropriate treatment of the
serious complications of the disease A team approach to treating and
monitoring the complex facets of this systemic disease serves the best
interests of the patient
Non-diabetic pregnant women should be checked for gestational diabetes
between the 24th and 28th weeks of pregnancy unless they are in the low-
risk category This
category includes women who are less than 25 years of
age, have no family history of diabetes, have a normal body weight and are
not a member of an ethnic/racial group with high prevalence of diabetes
ie, Hispanic/Latino, African American, Native American, and Asian
For more information, contact the American Diabetes Association at 1-800-
DIABETES
1-800-342-2383, or visit our Web site at wwwdiabetesorg
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Source:fda.gov
