Grant: Doctoral Award - Frederick Banting and Charles Best Canada Graduate Scholarships

At least 1 Canadian child per class of 20 was exposed to diabetes during pregnancy. Each of them is more at risk than their classmates of having diabetes and heart disease before graduating high school. Adults living with diabetes for many years are at risk of having heart-related health problems and dying because of these problems, but youths with diabetes are at risk of having these problems very early - while still in school. Early signs of heart disease might include a stiffer heart, high blood pressure, or high blood fat. It is unclear why the heart stiffens, and blood pressure and blood fat rise earlier in persons with type 2 diabetes. However, current studies involve older adults that have had diabetes for many years, which means their results also reflect normal aging. New research suggests that a mother's health during pregnancy influences her baby's lifelong heart disease risk. My project tests the theory that if a mother has diabetes during pregnancy, her child is at higher risk of heart disease. I also want to know if better education and/or income reduce this risk. To answer these questions, I will use data collected since 1981 in all of Manitoba to see if Manitobans exposed to diabetes in pregnancy are more likely to have heart disease than those not exposed to diabetes. Using the same data, I will also see if those who were exposed to diabetes and graduated high school and/or have higher income are less at risk of heart disease than those who were exposed to diabetes but did not graduate or had a lesser income. These results may explain why so many persons with diabetes have heart disease, and show that better education or income can prevent this. Finally, I will share my findings with other researchers, with patients and new or future mothers, and with the government. By discussing the results with patients, we hope to identify their priorities for the future steps of our research.