The Role of Vitamin D in Gestational Diabetes Mellitus and its Therapeutic Implications

Parth Shah

USA

Dr. Parth Shah, Orlando, Florida, USA

Keywords: Gestational Diabetes; Insulin Resistance; Vitamin D; Fasting Glucose

Abstract

Incidence of diabetes since 1980s has doubled worldwide, affecting 422 million people globally in 2014. In the United States, gestational diabetes mellitus occurs in approximately ~9.2% of the pregnant women. Women with previous history of gestational diabetes mellitus are highly prone to developing type II diabetes mellitus in the long run. A strong inverse correlation has been found between the risk of developing gestational diabetes mellitus and vitamin D deficiency/ insufficiency in pregnant women. Furthermore, in women who were previously diagnosed with gestational diabetes mellitus, markers of developing insulin resistance have been found associated with their vitamin D status. Appropriate vitamin D supplementation recommendations are needed as a possible preventative measure for gestational diabetes mellitus and to reduce the long-term risk of developing diabetes.

This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. (CC BY 4.0).