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July 11, 1999

Diagnosis and Symptoms, Gestational Diabetes

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Question from Michigan, USA:

My granddaughter is three years old. Her mother (my daughter) had gestational diabetes when she was pregnant. She only had it in her ninth month. My granddaughter had been urinating a lot just in the past week, like every 5 minutes she feels the need to go. Sometimes it’s just a little tinkle. She drinks a lot of juice sometimes during the day, but the other day, she didn’t, she had only a small glass of pop and that was it, and she was running to the bathroom a lot. My daughter seems to think she is at risk for developing diabetes because of the diabetes she had while pregnant. Please tell me this is not true. She doesn’t seem to be tired or the need to eat all the time. She eats her regular meals. I would be grateful if you could give me any information on this matter.

Answer:

From: DTeam Staff

I am sure your granddaughter’s doctor will want to exclude a urinary tract infection and of course at that age it is quite possible that the frequent urination has some psychosocial basis. Gestational Diabetes is not generally thought to be a forerunner of autoimmune diabetes, but there was a recent report that this may occasionally be the case. I think that it is very unlikely that this little girl has diabetes; but if your daughter is especially anxious she could arrange to test a urine specimen for glucose.

DOB