Exposure to cadmium and lead can be very unhealthy, and some epidemiological studies and animal experiments have yielded evidence that such exposure can cause diabetes. Researchers associated with the Japan Environment and Children’s Study wanted to know whether in concentrations in which they occur in blood, cadmium and lead can cause diabetes during pregnancy, a condition known as gestational diabetes. As such, they analyzed data from 16,955 pregnant women who participated in the Japan Environment and Children’s Study. Interestingly, the researchers found no relationship between a pregnant woman’s blood levels of cadmium and lead and her likelihood of developing gestational diabetes. This finding will doubtless come as some relief to pregnant women as these toxic metals contaminate almost all environments.  These will also help medical professionals around the world better manage gestational diabetes. However, clinicians and mothers should remember that obesity, age during pregnancy, and previous instances of gestational diabetes remain the risk factors associated with gestational diabetes.

 

What is it about?

The researchers examined whether there is a link between cadmium and lead exposure, in the ranges in which they occur in human blood, and the development of gestational diabetes in pregnant women.

Why is it important?

Pregnant women who develop gestational diabetes are at an increased risk of experiencing various complications of pregnancy themselves and seeing various complications in their children. Learning more about the risk factors associated with the development of gestational diabetes may help clinicians counsel mothers on how to avoid gestational diabetes and its adverse effects.

What this study adds

A pregnant woman’s blood levels of cadmium and lead do not affect her likelihood of developing gestational diabetes; so, clinicians should focus on other factors that do actually increase a woman’s risk of gestational diabetes.

Evidence before this study

There is epidemiological evidence for a relationship between cadmium and lead exposure and diabetes, but it is not known if such a relationship exists in pregnant women who develop gestational diabetes. The established risk factors for gestational diabetes are obesity, older ages during pregnancy, and having previously experienced gestational diabetes.

* The findings and conclusions of this paper and the lay-summary article are solely the responsibility of the authors and Science writer of this article, and do not represent the official views of the Japanese government.