Pregnancy Curiosity
Summary
Gestational diabetes is when a woman is only diabetic during her pregnancy. It is well known that there is more of a chance of Asians having gestational diabetes. There is a new study that shows an increased risk of gestational diabetes for a pregnant woman in a mixed-race Asian-Caucasian couple. This seems to show that gestational diabetes is related to genetics. Also, if the woman in the mixed-race couple is Asian, she has a greater risk of having a cesarean section. Other studies that have been done show that some interracial couples, depending on what the race is, can have more pregnancy complications.
There has not been a lot of research in this area, so Yasser El-Sayed, a obstetrician at Stanford, went through records of the Caucasian and Asian couples at a specific hospital from 2000 to 2005. Gestational diabetes was five times more likely to occur in women from an Asian-Asian couple than women in a Caucasian-Caucasian couple. Gestational diabetes was two and a half times more likely to occur in women in an Asian-Caucasian couple then women in a Caucasian-Caucasian couple.
But, it did not matter which gender was Asian. This shows a definite biological difference in race and ethnicity. The study also showed that we still have a lot about how genes work with diseases.
The study also showed the following cesarean section statistics: Asian-mother/Caucasian-father couples 33 percent, Caucasian-mother/Asian-father couples 23 percent. Asian and Caucasian non-mixed couples were in the middle of those two numbers. It is possible that a smaller pelvic size is found in Asian women.
This one study is not enough information for doctor's to use in their practice, but it gives them more of an understanding about gestational diabetes in Asian-mixed couples.
Reaction
I thought that this article was very interesting. I never knew that the genes of a mixed-race couple could affect a woman's pregnancy. God has created the human body so complex that humans cannot always know how certain genes will interact and I find it amazing how far research has come that scientists can discover this. If more studies are done on this, the research can go even farther and could really help doctors in their practice.
http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/37053/title/Pregnancy_curiosity
5 Comments:
I never knew that mixed racial couples were at a higher risk of pregnancy complications either. Your summary was very good, and stayed true to yor article. I think that the theory about a smaller pelvis bone was very intersting. I hope more studies on this will be done soon.
I had never heard of getational diabetes. I think it is interesting that a woman would only have diabetes during her pregnancy. I wonder why there is more of a chance of gestational diabetes occuring in Asian women. I also think is interesting that it does not matter which gender is Asian for there to be more pregnancy complications. If the smaller pelvic size had such a big impact on the complications, I would think it would be more likely for the Asian in the couple to be a woman.
I have heard of gestational diabetes, but never known how it came about, so this article was very helpful in that respect. As Sarah said, it is perhaps because of the Asian woman's smaller pelvis, though it is interesting that the percentages are different according to if the dad or mom is Asian or Caucasian. Another intersting fact is that the risk of gestational diabetes was greater in Asian-Asian couples than it was in Caucasian-Caucasian. I can't help but wonder why that is...?
The fact that this research shows a link between a race and a disease makes me wonder if there are other links between disorders or diseases and our genes. What about Asians makes them more susceptible to having gestational diabetes? I'm sure scientists will come up with further information concerning this link.
I have always been facsinated with gestational diabetes. The idea that a woman only has the desease during her pregnancy is extremely odd! This article makes me think about the possible links between other mixed-race couples. I wonder if this link also occurs in other minority groups such as African Americans or Latinos. It is also quite strange to think that this new found data could possibly be a deciding factor in a mixed-race couple's decison to get married or have children.
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