Eureka! Institutional Repository

Gestational Diabetes Mellitus is the type of diabetes that first appears in pregnancy, is cured immediately after childbirth and is one of the most common pathological conditions of pregnancies, which has attracted the interest of researchers for many years. It occurs in 5-11% of pregnancies worldwide and can cause many complications either for the mother (preeclampsia, traumatic labor, etc.) or for the fetus and neonate (fetal death, macrosomia, hypoglycemia). Gestational Diabetes Mellitus is a metabolic disease characterized by the disorder of glucose metabolism, due to the increase of insulin resistance at the beginning of the third trimester of pregnancy. Some women, such as those with a family history of diabetes, and obesity, are classified as a high-risk group for developing GDM. The basic therapeutic plan for GDM, consists of exercise, proper nutrition before (if predisposition exists) and during pregnancy and insulin treatment if necessary. The assignment that follows is a review from the international literature, in issues that refer to GDM, such as the pathophysiology, the predisposing factors, the implications, the diagnosis and the treatment of this metabolic disease.