What are the symptoms of gestational diabetes?

Gestational diabetes is a metabolic disease that occurs exclusively during a woman's pregnancy. During this period, the female organism is unable to optimally produce insulin (hormone). Insulin itself is a hormone that controls the regulation of the amount of sugar in the blood. Gestational diabetes is also called gestational diabetes mellitus. Gestational diabetes occurs primarily due to hormonal changes during pregnancy. Some women are predisposed to congenital gestational diabetes. As a rule, the symptoms of gestational diabetes subside during the sixth week.

What are the symptoms of gestational diabetes? The symptoms of gestational diabetes are often very subtle and can often be hidden behind the standard symptoms of pregnancy. If gestational diabetes is suspected, a laboratory examination is recommended. The most common symptoms include - headache, thirst, frequent urination, increased fatigue, vomiting, blurred vision, and more frequent urinary tract infections. Gestational diabetes and its symptoms begin to manifest after approximately the 24th week of pregnancy.

Risk factors for the development of gestational diabetes are overweight - obesity, genetic predispositions, age in pregnancy over 30 years, problems with high blood pressure, the presence of gestational diabetes in a previous pregnancy, an unhealthy lifestyle and diseases affecting hormonal insulin resistance.

The diagnostic examination is usually done between the 24th and 28th weeks of pregnancy, in some cases where risk factors are present, the diagnosis of gestational diabetes is made around the 14th week of pregnancy. It is a laboratory examination of blood and glucose tolerance test - OGTT test. Effective treatment to optimize sugar levels is determined by the doctor, while lifestyle modification (diet, adequate physical activity) is also necessary for a large part. In certain cases of diagnosed gestational diabetes, insulin treatment is necessary.

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