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Diabetes Risk in Womb
June 24, 2008 |
On average The Children’s Hospital of Southwest Florida cares for about 50
premature babies every month. Dr. Mohamed Faisal is a neonatologist with the
Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at the hospital. “If the health of the mother is
not right the baby is going to be born prematurely and not a healthy baby as
such.”
One of those health risks for premature babies born with a low weight is
something called I.U.G.R. “I.U.G.R. stands for intro-unterine growth
retardation, which means that when a baby’s being developed, it is not growing
according to the normal growth patterns of a normal baby,” says Dr. Faisal.
Babies with I.U.G.R. are also at risk for developing health problems later in
life. A recent study shows those babies have a very high risk of developing
adult-onset Type 2 Diabetes.
Area physicians say many different things can cause I.U.G.R. during pregnancy.
“It could be anything that’s happening to a mom. Her health, how her diet is,
what sort of medication she is on, is she hypertensive, is she diabetic all of
this of course influences the health of the placenta and in turn the health of
the baby,” says Dr. Faisal.
Researchers say the molecular mechanisms that encourage Type 2 Diabetes can be
reversed in the fetus and after birth. But right now there is no known option
for reversing the diabetes risk of an adult who suffered from I.U.G.R. as an
infant. New born babies with I.U.G.R. often appear thin and pale and their
umbilical cord is often thin and dull looking rather than shiny or fat. |
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