AHRQ Guides Help Patients, Physicians Navigate Treatment Options for Gestational Diabetes

The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, or AHRQ, has released two new guides to help women with gestational diabetes and their physicians make informed decisions about treatment options.

AHRQ said in its Aug. 20 electronic newsletter that the guides provide the latest scientific evidence on the effectiveness and safety of drugs used to treat gestational diabetes, which affects 7 percent of pregnant women.

The consumer guide covers the various treatment options for women with gestational diabetes, including diet and exercise, insulin therapy, and use of the oral diabetes medications glyburide and metformin.

The guide also offers advice on what women should do after delivery, including having their blood sugar monitored because of an increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes. Gestational diabetes usually disappears after childbirth, but 5 percent of women who have it during pregnancy develop type 2 diabetes within six months, and 60 percent develop type 2 disease within 10 years, the agency said.

The physician guide covers similar topics and also offers ratings of the evidence for each treatment type, a list of risk factors for type 2 diabetes, and other information about managing gestational diabetes and providing proper follow-up care for women who have had the condition.

Print copies of the guides can be requested from AHRQ via e-mail.