All pregnant women are screened for gestational diabetes. It’s a simple test that involves drinking a sugary drink, waiting about an hour and having your blood drawn to test your sugar levels. If test results come up abnormal, meaning elevated results, the patient will be asked to return for a second glucose tolerance test. Not all women who have abnormal test results actually have gestational diabetes. There are other factors that may affect the test results. Eating sugary foods before the test may result in a “failed test.” Usually a second test confirms normal glucose levels. Women with abnormal test … Continue reading →

Gestational Diabetes is a relatively common complication of pregnancy, affecting between three and eight percent of pregnant women. Gestational diabetes has been linked to problems such as large size of the baby, a greater risk of needing interventions and birth and a higher rate of c section. For the baby, risk associated with gestational diabetes include an increased risk of developing type II diabetes later in life and a higher risk of jaundice or hypoglycemia at birth. Recent research suggests another potential long term complication. French researchers have found a link between gestational diabetes and language delays. The study was … Continue reading →

If you are diagnosed with gestational diabetes during your pregnancy, you are not alone. About five percent of pregnant women will develop this condition. Nearly all pregnant women are screened for gestational diabetes in the second trimester, usually by the 28th week. The reason all women are screened is due to the danger posed to mother and baby from gestational diabetes that is left untreated. While the condition is not known to cause birth defects, there can be problems for the baby if mom’s glucose level is not kept under control. Some of the problems which can result include having … Continue reading →

Women with diabetes prior to pregnancy and those who develop the condition in pregnancy are at risk for certain complications during pregnancy. Among these complications is a risk of an excessively large baby. This is known as macrosomia. A larger baby increases the likelihood the mother will require medical interventions during the birth, including a higher risk of c section. A study published in the British Medical Journal suggests an effective way for lowering this risk is through continuous glucose monitoring. Glucose monitoring is done by all diabetic pregnant women. This can be done in two ways, intermittent monitoring throughout … Continue reading →

I have failed the glucose tolerance test in half of my pregnancies. In the first and fourth, I failed the one hour test and had to go for the three hour. As anyone who has gone though this can attest, it is not an enjoyable experience. The test takes three hours and you can’t eat after midnight on the night before the test. So if the lab opens at nine in the morning, you won’t eat until lunchtime. Most pregnant women don’t fare well when they skip eating for the morning. I know I didn’t. What I never realized is … Continue reading →

Bell’s palsy is the result of damage to a facial nerve. It is categorized by a sudden and temporary paralysis, usually to one side of the face. Often the symptoms of Bell’s palsy are mistaken for a stroke, since facial paralysis is most often the result of stroke. This type of facial paralysis gets its name from the doctor that first identified the condition. Sir Charles Bell was a surgeon in nineteenth century Scottland. The affected facial nerve is responsible for transmitting messages from the brain to the muscles in the face. When the nerve is damaged, the transmissions are … Continue reading →