Thalassemia and Gestational Diabetes

Hello,

I am 36 weeks pregnant and just diagnosed with gestational diabetes. I have normal iron levels and high folic acid levels, and normal b12 levels, my hb was at 7.5 last time it was checked, if that matters. I am not overweight and have gained about 20 lbs throughout the pregnancy. It was a surprise to me when they diagnosed me as I passed the three hour test I took a month ago. They asked me to repeat it last week and that's when I failed two out of the four blood tests (the last two). I was wondering if women with the thal trait are more likely than a woman without it to develop gestational diabetes or type 2 diabetes later on. And if it is more likely I was curious about why.  Thanks!

Eby

One study that looked at this found that there is no higher incidence of gestational diabetes in thal minors than in non carriers. At this point in the pregnancy, I don't know if it will make any difference. And no, there is no tendency for thal minors to develop diabetes later on, although the HbA1c test should never be used to diagnose diabetes in thal minors, as the variant hemoglobin present will create false readings in the test.