Diabetes raises congenital defects risk

摘要

WOMEN with diabetes have an increased risk of having children with congenital defects and should be encouraged to reduce their HbA_(1c) levels before conception, according to the authors of a study published online in Diabetobgia (6 February 2012). In a cohort-study, carried out in the north of England, the authors looked at over 400,000 live births, of which 1,677 births were from women with pre-existing diabetes. The risk of a major congenital anomaly in the babies of women with diabetes was over three-times higher than in women with no diabetes (relative risk 3.3, 95 per cent confidence interval 2.8-3.9).