Description

If you suffer from gestational diabete, does this increase your chances for type II diabetes later in life? Dr. Dara Schuster, MD, Internal Medicine at Ohio State University Medical Center, answer in this video.

Transcript

Brandi: Hi! My name is Brandi. I am 25-years-old and I am from Dayton, Ohio and I developed gestational diabetes while I was pregnant and nobody in my family has diabetes and I was wondering if this would make me more susceptible to getting diabetes later in life? Dr. Dara Schuster: Brandi that's a really good question and an appropriate concern. By definition we know that gestational diabetes is diabetes that occurs during a pregnancy and then goes completely away after the baby is born. But, the fact of the matter is that many patients go on to develop Type 2 diabetes later in life. In fact, 50% of women develop Type 2 diabetes within 5 years of that pregnancy. So, it is the woman with gestational diabetes, who should be followed closely.