Women with Gestational Diabetes Develop Glucose Intolerance with High Frequency within One Year Postpartum

Objective: To investigate the incidence of glucose intolerance postpartum in women with gestational diabetes (GDM) and assess body weight, cholesterol and triglyceride concentrations after delivery. Methods: This was a study of an initial cohort of 100 women with GDM who were tested at 6 weeks, 6 months, and 1 year postpartum. Postpartum evaluations were glucose tolerance, weight and cholesterol and triglycerides. Results: Impaired fasting glucose (IFG) and/or impaired glucose tolerance (IGT) was present in 36.5% of 52 participants who were assessed at 6 weeks postpartum and diabetes in 17.3%; the remaining 48 women failed to return for the 3 evaluations. By 6 months, IFG/IGT was demonstrated in 55.8% and diabetes in 32.7% of the women. At 1 year, 46.2% exhibited IFG/IGT and 48% diabetes. Moreover, the weight was higher in those women who presented IFG/IGT (75.5 +/- 15.2 kg, mean +/- SD) and diabetes (79.0 +/- 16.2 kg) compared with those who had normal glucose tolerance (65.3 +/- 14.5 kg; p < 0.05). In addition, triglycerides were higher in mothers with glucose intolerance (181.3 +/- 85.9 mg/dl in IFG/IGT and 230.9 +/- 90.9 mg/dl in diabetes) than in women with normal glycemia (147.8 +/- 11.2 mg/dl; p < 0.05). Conclusion: We demonstrated an increased incidence of women exhibiting glucose intolerance within 1 year postpartum, mainly in those who remained obese. Copyright (C) 2011 S. Karger AG, Basel