Grant: Operating Grant-PA: INMD Start Up Funds (bridge funding) - Clinician Scientists

People with diabetes begin to develop complications of the disease after they've had high blood sugars for a long time. However, recent studies have suggested that some people already have signs of diabetes complications right from the time they are diagnosed. One type of diabetes that has never traditionally been associated with complications is gestational diabetes, where women develop high blood sugars in the last part of pregnancy. These high blood sugars usually improve after delivery. The purpose of this study is to see whether even the short period of high blood sugars in women with gestational diabetes is enough to cause early signs of diabetes complications in the eye and in the kidney. We will study pregnant women with and without gestational diabetes. We will test them for eye and kidney complications of diabetes in the third trimester of pregnancy. The objectives of the study are to see whether women with gestational diabetes develop complications during pregnancy, and to determine what are the risk factors for these complications.