Lower Vitamin D Increases Risk of Gestational Diabetes

Included the long list of possible actions of vitamin D in humans is the possibility that it has a role in the regulation of blood sugar.   A new study supports that this may be true in pregnant women, as it has shown that women who have lower levels of vitamin D in the first trimester of pregnancy have a higher risk of developing gestational diabetes during that pregnancy.

At the European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD) meeting in Berlin last week, lead author Dr Lacroix from Sherbrooke University in Quebec, Canada, presented the study.  They looked at vitamin D levels in 558 pregnant women in the first trimester of pregnancy who did NOT have diabetes in the first trimester, and then tested them for gestational diabetes (ie, diabetes that develops during pregnancy) in the second trimester (which is the standard time to test for gestational diabetes).

They found that lower vitamin D levels in the first trimester were associated with a higher risk of developing gestational diabetes, with 37% of gestational diabetic women having had a lower vitamin D in the first trimester, and only 26% of non-gestational diabetic women having had a lower vitamin D in the first trimester.   (Scientists: lower vitamin D was defined as less than 50 nmol/L; also note that this difference remained statistically significant after adjusting for potential confounding factors including age, BMI, and body fat percent).


The bottom line:  Vitamin D levels may be one of many factors to consider in minimizing the risk of developing gestational diabetes.  If you are pregnant or considering becoming pregnant, speak to your doctor about vitamin D.

Dr Sue Pedersen www.drsue.ca © 2012 drsuetalks@gmail.com

Follow me on Twitter for daily tips! @drsuepedersen

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New Data on Type 2 Diabetes and Obesity Surgery

At the European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD) meeting in Berlin today, I had the pleasure of sitting in on a session discussing the effects of obesity surgery on type 2 diabetes.  Whereas previous years of diabetes meetings have seen very sparse attendance at bariatric surgery talks, this session was absolutely packed. 

At this session, a number of fascinating studies were
presented.  Highlights included: (be warned - it's a very science-heavy blog this week!)

A study by S. Steven and colleagues (UK) looked at a group of 92
patients who had type 2 diabetes prior to having gastric bypass
surgery, with the aim of determining which factors were associated
with a greater chance of diabetes remission after surgery. One of
their findings was that the degree of weight loss achieved post op was
the main determinant of diabetes remission - controversial, as the
bulk of currently available evidence suggests that remission of
diabetes is independent of weight lost.

A study by Pournaras and colleagues found that a nifty removable liner placed
inside of the first 60cm of small intestine (called a duodenal-jejunal
bypass liner) improved type 2 diabetes control over a 1 year trial period.
This introduces the question as to whether, in the future, we can
consider less invasive alternatives to bariatric surgery (such as
these) to help control type 2 diabetes.


A couple of elegant studies out of Denmark (including colleagues Jens Juul Holst and Sten Madsbad who I collaborate with on research studies personally) and Sweden were presented, designed to give us a better understanding of just how obesity surgery improves type 2 diabetes (with a lot of arrows pointing to the increase in the hormone GLP-1 that is seen after surgery).

Finally, there was a neat study from Finland showing that the insulin resistance of fat in femoral bone marrow improves with bariatric surgery (I personally had not previously thought about bone marrow being insulin resistant!).  

Overall, a very exciting day, and a very exciting meeting!

Dr Sue Pedersen www.drsue.ca © 2012 drsuetalks@gmail.com

Follow me on Twitter for daily tips! @drsuepedersen

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