An analysis conducted by Chinese researchers comprising 202 studies, including more than 56 million pregnancies, finds that having diabetes during pregnancy has a link with an increased risk of neurodevelopment disorders like autism and ADHD in children.

While academics stressed more research is needed, the meta-analysis indicated that “diligent monitoring of blood sugar levels throughout pregnancy is imperative.”

It explained that “out of the total of 110 studies looked at, gestational diabetes, which is developed during pregnancy, usually goes away after birth, leaving 80 with pre-gestational diabetes.”

The analysis shows that the children of mothers with diabetes during pregnancy had a 28 per cent increased risk of having any neurodevelopmental disorder compared to those whose mothers did not have the condition.

The study accounted for other factors that might explain the association, explaining that when looking at individual disorders, researchers found a 25 per cent increased risk of autism spectrum disorder.

The researchers said, “Diligent monitoring of maternal glycaemic concentrations throughout pregnancy is imperative. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first comprehensive systematic review and meta-analysis to assess neurodevelopment outcomes in children born to mothers with specific types of diabetes.”

They also warned that while the findings, published in The Lancet, provide novel insights into the potential risks, they should be interpreted with caution.

Responding to the study, Lucilla Poston, a professor of maternal and foetal health at King’s College London, said the human foetus is exquisitely vulnerable to environmental changes that may affect lifelong health.

She added, “The well-conducted review benefits from a focus on studies that ruled out several factors, such as maternal obesity or socioeconomic status, which could explain the association.

“While the conclusion is that children born to mothers with diabetes are at risk of neurodevelopmental disorders, all contributing studies were observed with no attempt to intervene or prevent any effect. Causality must be treated with caution.”

As appreciated by the authors, interpretation may be complicated by the effects of diabetes treatment and the international non-conformity in the diagnosis of gestational diabetes.

However, other evidence did imply causality, including many studies in experimental animals.

Meanwhile, data is emerging from MRI imaging of the brains of children exposed to maternal diabetes, showing structural and functional changes in the hypothalamus, a region of the brain intricately involved in both mental and physical health.

Therefore, for this and other reasons, diabetes prevention, screening and treatment remain critically important not only for the health of the mother but also for her child. 

(dpa/NAN)