Smoking and gestational diabetes
11 May 2020
Par: chef-projet@dnf.asso.fr
Dernière mise à jour: 11 May 2020
Temps de lecture: 3 minutes
In terms of smoking prevalence during pregnancy, France continued to be a bad example, still showing a score of 16.2% in 2016[1]. While exposure of pregnant women to tobacco smoke has been shown to have harmful consequences for their health and that of their unborn child, a study published in January 2020 in the journal Obstetrics & Gynecology[2] focused in particular on the link between smoking and gestational diabetes.
Gestational diabetes or "pregnancy diabetes" is defined as any degree of glucose intolerance that appears or is diagnosed during pregnancy; it is one of the most common medical complications and metabolic disorders.[3]. In fact, the weight and growth of the fetus become excessive due to the transmission and then storage in the organs of the fetus of excess glucose in the pregnant woman.[4], the risks of premature birth, heart and nerve malformations for the child as well as high blood pressure for the mother[5] are higher.
Based on an analysis of data from the Pregnancy Risk Assessment Surveillance System, which included more than 222,400 women between 2009 and 2015, the researchers show that smoking increases the risk of developing gestational diabetes. Specifically, the study shows that pregnant women who do not change their smoking, or even increase it, have a 50% higher risk of developing this type of diabetes compared to women who have never smoked or who quit at least two years before pregnancy. Women who reduce their smoking have a 22% higher risk.
Dr. Yael Bar-Zeev of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem says that given the seriousness of the risks to mothers and children, it is imperative to ensure access to smoking cessation programs specifically for pregnant women and laments the current shortcomings in the American and Israeli health systems.[6].
[1] http://beh.santepubliquefrance.fr/beh/2018/35-36/2018_35-36_2.html
[3] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3406210/
[4] https://www.federationdesdiabetiques.org/information/diabete-gestationnel
