Women who become diabetic during pregnancy may be able to avoid later developing type 2 diabetes with exercise, according to a new U.S. study, according to Reuters.
Among women who had so-called gestational diabetes, those who upped their exercise by a little more than 20 minutes a day after giving birth had half the longer-term diabetes risk of women who didn't change their activity levels, Reuters reported.
"This is kind of a hopeful message because they may think they are at a high risk of type 2 diabetes, but this shows they shouldn't give up," Dr. Cuilin Zhang said, according to Reuters. "Exercise more. It can help."
Zhang, from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, in Rockville, Maryland, is the study's lead author, Reuters reported.
Women, heavier and not white woman at risk of developing gestational diabetes, because of changes in the body during pregnancy. Gestational diabetes affects between 2 percent and 10 percent of U.S. pregnancies, according to Reuters.
While women with gestational diabetes may experience symptoms typical of type 2 diabetes including increased thirst and urge to urinate, most women find out from their doctors, Reuters reported.
If blood sugar isn't controlled during pregnancy, gestational diabetes puts babies at risk of being born earlier and heavier than normal, according to Reuters. It also puts women at increased risk of high blood pressure and preeclampsia, another serious pregnancy complication.
For the new study, the researchers used 16 years' worth of data on 4,554 adult women who had a history of gestational diabetes. By the end of the study period, 635 had developed type 2 diabetes,. Reuters reported.
Based on behaviors like exercise and time spent watching television, the researchers calculated the women's risk of developing type 2 diabetes, according to Reuters.
Among the one-fifth of women who exercised the least, about 19 percent developed diabetes later on, compared to about 9 percent among the one-fifth who exercised the most, Reuters reported. The researchers found that a woman's risk of developing type 2 diabetes fell by about 9 percent for every additional 100 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise added per week.
Overall, women who increased their exercise by 150 minutes a week had just 53 percent of the diabetes risk of women who didn't change their activity levels after pregnancy, according to Reuters.
