It is an autoimmune disease that leads to the destruction of pancreatic beta cells that produce insulin. The causes of the disease are thought to be primarily environmental and genetic in nature, leading to the autoimmune destruction of the pancreatic cells. (Atkinson, 2012) Type 2 diabetes is the most common type of diabetes and is a metabolic disease that leads to chronic hyperglycemia. It is characterized by insulin resistance and relative insulin deficiency. Like type 1 diabetes, it is also thought to be caused by genetic and environmental factors. (Lindsay, 2001)
Adults can be diagnosed with type 1 diabetes, but the number of adults who actually have type 1 instead of type 2 diabetes is unclear, since many patients are diagnosed as type 2, who actually have type 1.
Gestational diabetes occurs during pregnancy and resolves after delivery. During a normal pregnancy women experience a change in their sensitivity to insulin, caused by the fetal-placental unit releasing hormones that cause insulin resistance. Most women can secrete insulin in response to the reduction in insulin sensitivity, women who do not secretion insulin in response are termed gestational diabetics, those with gestational diabetes have as much as a 70% reduction in insulin sensitivity. (Lindsay, …show more content…
Some problems associated with gestational diabetes include: fetal overgrowth leading to delivery problems, Erb’s palsy, asphyxia, increased rates of Caesarean section, fetal macrosomia, hypoglycemia of the infant after birth, hypocalcemia, hyperbilirubinemia, and polycythemia. (Coustan, 2013)
Once a diabetic mother is in labor, the goal is to maintain euglycemia to avoid neonatal hypoglycemia. Elevated maternal glucose levels just prior to deliver results in neonatal hypoglycemia as an adaptation by the newborn to placental glucose supplies. Hypoglycemia in the newborn can cause seizures and respiratory distress. Because of this, during labor, gestational diabetics should have blood glucose levels monitored frequently and maintain levels between 70-120 mg/dL, and the newborns will require frequent monitoring to prevent hypoglycemia. (Coustan, 2013)
After delivery the hormones that were causing insulin resistance from the fetal-placental unit is no longer present, and maternal glucose metabolism returns to normal. Patients whose blood glucose levels do not return to normal levels shortly after delivery are converted to type 2