Gestational Diabetes Essay

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Disease Process Gestational Diabetes Mellitus
Introduction
Gestational diabetes mellitus is a disorder that manifests itself towards the later stages of pregnancy. The pregnant mother develops insulin resistance and ultimately becomes intolerance to glucose. There are several reasons as to why diabetes occurs and this has been thought to be similar to the underlying system that causes gestational diabetes mellitus. “Diabetes is a result of pancreatic beta-cell dysfunction, which can present in three main ways: autoimmune, a genetic cause and on top of already present insulin resistance (Ferrara and Kim 2010).
Autoimmune diabetes accounts for approximately 5-10% of all diabetic cases (U.S. Dept. of Health 2010). There are circulating antibodies to the B cells of the Islet of Langerhans and in women with gestational diabetes mellitus they have these antibodies present in their circulation. It is believed that women have gestational have problems with insulin secretion caused by destruction of the Islets by the autoantibodies (Ferrara and Kim 2010).
“Gestational diabetes mellitus in pregnancy can lead to a greater risk of cardiovascular disease in the newborn such as hypertension and atherosclerosis. This is a result of increased levels of oxidative stress and inflammatory mediators present during pregnancy” (Petry 2014). The placenta also serves as a buffer to prevent glucose from entering the fetus. In a normal pregnancy the mother supplies the fetus with a constant supply of nutrients via the placenta for growth and development. In the case of gestational diabetes mellitus, there is an excess amount of glucose that is produced in high levels and the placenta is not able to buffer the excess glucose which results in complications t...

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...ucose intolerance she also faces the risk of developing gestational diabetes mellitus in subsequent pregnancies. Women who gain excessive weight during pregnancy are also at greater risk for developing gestational diabetes mellitus. Certain ethnic background can be an indicator for risk; women who are Hispanic, African, Native Asian American or Pacific Islander have a high incidence of gestational diabetes mellitus.
Signs and Symptoms
Most women who have gestational diabetes mellitus do not have any extreme symptoms. The symptoms that might manifest itself is normally not life threatening. Some of the symptoms that the woman might experience are blurred vision, frequent urination, fatigue, increase thirst or urination and nausea and vomiting. Some of the symptoms that the woman is experiencing is undetectable and might be seen as normal symptoms of pregnancy.@@@@@@

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