Diabetes is a metabolic disorder, which means it is an issue that affects the metabolism.
However, diabetes is also something that can develop within pregnant women during the pregnancy time line? This is known as gestational diabetes and it needs to be monitored carefully to ensure the health of both you and your baby.
Diabetes The human body transforms food into sugar, which circulates throughout the bloodstream.
In turn, the pancreas will produce insulin in response of the quantity of glucose (sugar) in the blood.
Insulin is a hormone that will help transport glucose through the bloodstream and ensure that it reaches the organs that use it for fuel.
In the event that there is too much sugar in the body, it will be stored as fat.
However, if you have diabetes, your body is unable to produce enough insulin to cope with the sugar in your blood.
Consequently, the amount of sugar in the body increases beyond the requirements.
This increase in sugar can cause damage to the organs, especially the liver and kidneys, which can prove fatal.
Changes during Pregnancy During pregnancy, your body is experiencing a number of changes and is being flooded with a whole host or hormones.
Usually, pregnancy causes the blood sugar to increase, because the digestion slows.
Obviously, if you have diabetes, this can prove problematic.
However, even if you are not diabetic, you may develop gestational diabetes.
If you have gestational diabetes, you may not realize until symptoms begin to develop.
So, it is advisable to attend all of your prenatal appointments, as the doctor will be able to monitor your condition carefully.
If you have diabetes, you will notice an increase in thirst and more frequent urination, but these are common symptoms of normal pregnancy too, so they may not be very helpful.
As the diabetes progress, you may notice that you start getting headaches or that your vision becomes blurred, if this is the case, then you should seek medical assistance as soon as possible.
What You Need to Do The good news is that it is not too difficult to control gestational diabetes.
Maintaining a healthy diet with less refined sugar is a good start.
You may also like to engage in a little gentle exercise, but it is wise to be careful.
The aim is to keep a stable blood sugar level, which can be achieved by eating small (healthy) meals every three or four hours.
You should also drink lots of water and avoid caffeinated drink.
It may help you to keep a pregnancy calendar, which will allow you to maintain your routine.
Gestational diabetes will generally cease after birth.
It is possible that a mother may develop "Type two" diabetes following the birth but this is not common.
As long as your doctor is aware of your condition, he, or she, will be able to ensure the health and well being of both you and your baby.
If you would like some more information on gestational diabetes, browse some of the many pregnancy websites.