The number of pregnant women facing risk of developing gestational diabetes in Qatar could increase by 30 percent over a decade, says an expert.
About 20 percent of pregnant women in Qatar are at risk of developing gestational diabetes, which increases the risk of developing type 2 diabetes.
Scientific indications show that this may rise to 30 percent over the next 10 years.
The disease has implications for the mother and her unborn baby,” said renowned genomics and diabetes expert Professor Philippe Froguel.
He will talk about latest achievements in diabetes research during an Academic Health System Lecture at Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC) tomorrow.
This is the fourth lecture in a series bringing latest medical research to HMC’s clinicians and researchers to improve patient care, and will highlight latest innovations for health professionals, a central focus for HMC’s transformation into an academic health system (AHS).
A pioneer in the field of genomic medicine (the study of the genetic composition of living organisms), Professor Froguel is Senior Research Director of Qatar Biomedical Research Institute (QBRI), one of the eight partner organisations in the AHS, and Scientific Director of QBRI’s Genomic Medicine and Systems Biology Research Center.
Professor Froguel led a recent study conducted by QBRI, Imperial College London and CNRS-Lille France which made a breakthrough discovery linking certain type 2 diabetes patients with a higher risk for cancer.
“We found that patients with type 2 diabetes who carry a certain chromosomal abnormality are four times more likely than non-diabetics to develop cancer, especially blood cancers such as lymphoma and leukaemia,” he said.
According to the International Diabetes Federation, diabetes affects 23 percent of Qataris and more than 90 percent of them have type 2 diabetes. About 11 percent of Qatar’s population is considered pre-diabetic. Also, about 10 percent of pregnant women in Qatar have diabetes. But it is estimated that about a third of diabetics are not aware of their disease.
http://thepeninsulaqatar.com/qatar/252597-pregnant-women-face-diabetes-risk.html
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