Global action needed on gestational diabetes

Liggins Institute Professor of Maternal and Perinatal Health, Caroline Crowther has challenged the international research community to unite in efforts to deal with the increasingly common pregnancy complication, gestational diabetes.

Delivering the prestigious Norbert Freinkel Award Lecture at the annual meeting of the American Diabetes Association, in Chicago this weekend, Professor Crowther said, “The time has come to chart a clear and coherent course of global research towards resolving the most pressing issues surrounding the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of gestational diabetes.

“One of the key research questions today is: what diagnostic criteria should individual hospitals, populations and countries be using? Exactly when and how should gestational diabetes be diagnosed?”

She stressed the need for researchers firstly to pull together everything that is known from previous research on gestational diabetes using strong, systematic review processes. The end result, or “synthesis”, can provide strong clinical recommendations which can be implemented in practice, and identify knowledge gaps which point the way to future research.

Professor Crowther says there is no shortage of research around diabetes but approaches need to be internationally coordinated so that individual discoveries can be linked together in a systematic way that leads to advances in clinical care.

“It would be good to have a global action group for reviewing existing information and prioritizing the burning questions that must be addressed,” she said.

She pointed to clear gaps related to nutrition and dietary advice, both for preventing the condition and managing diabetes during pregnancy.

While advocating acquisition and synthesis of knowledge globally, she emphasised that its application must fit local situations.

“The interface with the woman and her family is the critical thing,” she explained. “We should be empowering women and their families with knowledge and tools to ensure that the right things are happening for them, with the right people at the right time. We should be promptly translating new evidence into practice.”

The award is given in memory of Norbert Freinkel, a dedicated and insightful investigator and gifted writer, to honour a researcher who has made outstanding contributions, including scientific publications and presentations, to the understanding and treatment of diabetes and pregnancy. The American Diabetes Association meeting is the world’s largest diabetes conference.

Congratulating Professor Crowther on the award, Liggins Institute Director Professor Wayne Cutfield said, “Professor Crowther has made very important contributions to the clinical care of mothers and babies through generation of critical new knowledge and through translation of this research evidence into health improvements.

“The growing incidence of gestational diabetes is a worrying trend in our community. Professor Crowther’s systematic, collaborative approaches and advocacy will have a major impact on the health of at least two generations.”