Healthy diet may reduce high blood pressure risk after gestational diabetes

NIH | APRIL 19, 2016

Sticking to a healthy diet in the years after pregnancy may reduce the risk of high blood pressure among women who had pregnancy-related (gestational) diabetes.

Healthy diet. Image credit: Ionutzmovie/Wikipedia (CC BY 3.0)

Some pregnant women develop gestational diabetes, despite not having diabetes before becoming pregnant. The condition results in high blood sugar levels, which can increase the risk of early labor and a larger than average baby, which may result in problems during delivery.

For most women with the condition, blood sugar levels return to normal after birth. However, later in life, women who had gestational diabetes are at higher risk for type 2 diabetes and high blood pressure.

Women who have had gestational diabetes may indeed benefit from a diet rich in fruits, vegetables, and whole grains and low in red and processed meats.

In fact, a healthy diet was associated with lower risk for high blood pressure even in obese women. Obesity is a risk factor for high blood pressure. But obese women in the study who adhered to a healthy diet had a lower risk of high blood pressure, when compared to obese women who did not.

After they statistically accounted for smoking, family history, and other factors known to increase high blood pressure risk, the researchers found that women who adhered to a healthy diet were 20 percent less likely to develop high blood pressure than those who did not.

YOU MAY ALSO LIKE

Human anti-cancer drugs could help treat transmissible cancers in Tasmanian devils

Transmissible cancers are incredibly rare in nature, yet have arisen in Tasmanian devils on at least two separate occasions. New research from the University of Cambridge identifies key anti-cancer drugs which could be trialled as a treatment for these diseases, which are threatening Tasmanian devils with extinction.

Blood of SIDS infants contains high levels of serotonin

Blood samples from infants who died of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) had high levels of serotonin, a chemical that carries signals along and between nerves.

Flu infection study increases understanding of natural immunity

People with higher levels of antibodies against the stem portion of the influenza virus hemagglutinin (HA) protein have less viral shedding when they get the flu, but do not have fewer or less severe signs of illness, according to a new study.

Probiotics May Not Always Be A Silver Bullet for Better Health

To combat the effects of a poor diet, probiotics may be just the thing. However, surprising new research from UNSW suggests probiotics are much less effective when taken alongside a balanced diet, and could even impair certain aspects of memory.

Hormone treatment studied in older men

Hormone treatment for one year may improve bone strength and reduce anemia for some older men with a low level of testosterone. But it might also increase cardiovascular risk.

Long-term consumption of sunflower and fish oils damages the liver

An international group of scientists led by the University of Granada has demonstrated that the long-term intake of sunflower or fish oils damages the liver and can cause a series of alterations in it, giving rise to non-alcoholic steatohepatitis.