the Gestational Diabetes affects the blood flow of the fetus and promotes blood flow to the placenta, thus depriving the brain, according to the results of a study presented at the Annual Meeting of the European Cardiovascular Imaging Association (EACVI).
Gestational diabetes disrupts the health of babies and promotes overweight. Researchers at the Bronx-Lebanon Pediatric Hospital in the United States conducted this study to establish whether it affected other organs in the fetus.
“We know that gestational diabetes affects fetal organs,” said lead author Dr Aparna Kulkarni, pediatric cardiologist. “Babies born to mothers with diabetes are sometimes bigger, especially if the diabetes is uncontrolled, and the placenta is larger. There is data that suggests that some other organs such as the pancreas and kidneys in the fetus could be affected ”.
Gestational diabetes affects blood circulation
The researchers studied 14 fetuses from mothers with type 1 or 2 diabetes and 16 fetuses from mothers without diabetes (the control group). Nine of the diabetic mothers injected insulin, three took oral medications, and two opted for an adapted diet to control their glucose levels. The researchers used fetal Doppler echocardiography to measure blood flow to the brain, the left and right outflow pathways of the heart, aorta and placenta. The data was exploited by a computerized model that mimics fetal circulation.
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This research found that, compared to fetuses in the control group, the blood flow of babies of diabetic mothers is diverted to the placenta, neglecting the brain.
Specifically, these fetuses exhibited lower placental resistance, decreased blood flow to arteries in the brain (measured from the radius of the cerebral artery), decreased blood flow to the brain, and decreased cardiac output. .
“The placenta is washed away after a baby is born, so it is no longer part of the circulation,” explained Dr Aparna Kulkarni. “But it’s possible that the reduced circulation to the brain in utero could affect the baby throughout life. We don’t know why this redistribution of blood flow is happening or the implications it might have. are needed to know if it has a long-term impact on the baby’s health and if anything can be done to prevent it. “
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