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Diabetes in pregnancy may put child at risk for heart disease in adulthood

Pregnant woman holding stomach.

Suhyeon Choi/Unsplash

1 min read

Adults with mothers who had diabetes during pregnancy may have a greater risk of cardiovascular disease compared to those who did not, according to a new study from Denmark. It was published online Dec. 4, 2019 in The BMJ.

Previous studies have shown that babies born to women with diabetes have a higher rate of congenital malformations and other complications, noted Jorge Chavarro, associate professor of nutrition and epidemiology at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health in a December 12 Reuters article. These babies also face a higher risk for overweight and obesity as children, and cardiovascular and metabolic diseases as adults. Chavarro, who was not involved in the new study, said that it “provides evidence that maternal diabetes can also result in a higher frequency of clinically relevant cardiovascular events during the first four decades of life.”