Treatment Options for Gestational Diabetes

Filed in archive Research , Treatment on May 8, 2008

As if gestational diabetes isn't tricky enough, there are actually limited treatment options for pregnant women suffering from gestational diabetes.


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Usually, the options were just diet adjustment and insulin injection when the new diet failed.

Now, as reported by the U.S. News and World Report, there are new oral treatment options that are safe for pregnant women:

• Glyburide - an oral medication that can be bought for less than $15, has been a viable treatment option for pregnant women since 2000


• Metformin - another oral drug that's slightly more expensive, is an option newly deemed safe and effective in a study being published tomorrow in the New England Journal of Medicine

Of course, the dietary changes has to remain on top of the medication.

In addition, dietary changes remain important, since they can reduce the risk of having a large baby and a more difficult delivery. The babies of mothers affected by gestational diabetes often overproduce insulin, which may increase an infant's future risk of type 2 diabetes and obesity.

According to Michael F. Greene, director of obstetrics at Massachusetts General Hospital and associate editor of the New England Journal of Medicine, who coauthored an editorial that discusses the metformin research:

The addition of metformin to the list of options for pregnant women is important, since pills are helpful for women who are wary of giving themselves shots of insulin.

Indeed, gestational diabetes can be managed. The patient should discuss the options closely with their doctors. The patient should then be careful to follow the orders to the letter. After all, it isn't just your body that is at stake but also the health and welfare of the baby you are carrying inside.

Read the full report from the U.S. News and World Report.