A pair of papers by Saifur Khan, cardiology research faculty member in the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, shed new light on the mechanisms by which women with a history of gestational diabetes often go on to develop type 2 diabetes.
“Many of these women who have had gestational diabetes go on to develop type 2 diabetes at a relatively young age, before 40,” said Khan. “There is an urgent need to identify root causes in order to develop early detection, prevention and targeted interventions using precision medicine.”
The discovery of a genetic biomarker, reported Jan. 10 in Science Advances, could lead to new therapies and interventions to reduce the risk of this progression.
And another paper, published Jan. 15 in Diabetes/Metabolism Research and Reviews, identified three clusters within this population that might point to precision-medicine approaches.
Links to news releases about both papers are below.
Many women with gestational diabetes later develop type 2 diabetes - but not for the same reasons