Multiple miscarriages can increase a woman’s risk of developing diabetes by up to 71%, new study suggests
- Women who miscarry are ’18 per cent more likely to develop type 2 diabetes’
- Experts studied more than 24,700 diabetic women born between 1957 and 1997
- Research suggests three miscarriages increased the chances by 71 per cent
Women who suffer multiple miscarriages are at greater risk of developing diabetes, according to a study.
Those who had experienced one pregnancy loss were found to be 18 per cent more likely to develop type 2 diabetes, compared with women who had never lost a baby.
Two miscarriages was linked to a 38 per cent higher risk, and three miscarriages increased the chances by 71 per cent.
The scientists were then able to calculate the odds of developing type 2 diabetes with different numbers of miscarriages. Their findings were published in the journal Diabetologia [File photo]
The researchers proposed that women with three or more lost pregnancies could have their blood sugar profile more frequently monitored so that lifestyle advice can be offered to lower their risk and interventions can be applied early if diabetes develops.
The leader of the study, Dr Pia Egerup, of Copenhagen University Hospital in Denmark, said: ‘We cannot rule out that the psychological distress related to pregnancy loss can initiate lifestyle changes that increase Body Mass Index and thereby the risk of type 2 diabetes.
‘Our analysis in which we adjusted for obesity still showed a significant association between pregnancy loss and type 2 diabetes, with more losses leading to a higher risk.
Those who had experienced one pregnancy loss were found to be 18 per cent more likely to develop type 2 diabetes, compared with women who had never lost a baby [File photo]
‘This indicated that the higher risk for type 2 diabetes in women with pregnancy losses cannot be explained by obesity alone.’
The researchers looked at more than 24,700 Danish women born between 1957 and 1997 who were diagnosed with type 2 diabetes between 1977 and 2017. They also analysed 247,740 women without diabetes as controls.
Each woman with diabetes was matched by birth year and educational level with ten control women without diabetes.
The scientists were then able to calculate the odds of developing type 2 diabetes with different numbers of miscarriages. Their findings were published in the journal Diabetologia.
Dr Egerup said: ‘Perhaps the same genetic background could predispose to an increased risk for both.
‘Also, pregnancy loss could initiate an immunological cascade that also could lead to later type 2 diabetes.
‘Additionally, it is possible prediabetic metabolic conditions – present before the diagnosis of diabetes – could influence the association.’
The researchers proposed that women with three or more lost pregnancies could have their blood sugar profile more frequently monitored so that lifestyle advice can be offered to lower their risk and interventions can be applied early if diabetes develops [File photo]
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