Grant: Travel Awards - Institute Community Support

In a typical class of 20 Canadian children, at least 1 was exposed to diabetes during pregnancy. This puts them at more risk than their classmates of having diabetes 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, or why blood pressure and blood fat rise in persons with type 2 diabetes. Recent research shows that some blood markers related to the nutrients used by the heart to function properly might indicate how sick or healthy a person is, but results differ between studies. This project tests the theory that if a mother had diabetes during pregnancy, her child is at higher risk of heart disease and this risk is due to the way the heart uses nutrients such as fat to function. To answer this question, I analyzed ultrasound images of the heart of adolescents living with type 2 diabetes and whose mothers had or did not have diabetes when they were pregnant to see how well the youths' hearts are functioning. I also analyzed the adolescents' blood markers to see if the markers were related to heart function and/or to being exposed to maternal diabetes. My results show that some, but not all, blood markers of the heart's efficient use of nutrients is related to both heart function and exposure to maternal diabetes in these youth with type 2 diabetes. This might indicate that in youth with diabetes, the heart uses nutrients differently than in adults with diabetes; it might also indicate that exposure to maternal diabetes changes how efficiently the heart functions. This might increase their risk for cardiovascular disease in the near future.