Women and Diabetes: Health Challenges for Diabetic Women

Talking about women and diabetes, this illness causes many unique challenges for diabetic women. Diabetes in women increases the risk of depression, heart diseases, strokes, riskier pregnancy and infected children. Extra care should be taken seriously for women who already have diabetes.

Depression

For women and diabetes, depression is a common thing. Depression maintains a high rate of possibility to happen to people with diabetes among the general population, most especially to women. Depression happens about twice to most women than men, and at higher possibility for diabetic women. It can also lead to suicide.

The women’s increased rate of depression maybe contributed by several hormonal factors such as miscarriage, pregnancy, menstrual cycle changes, postpartum period, single parenthood, pre-menopause and caring for children and aging parents.

However, studies show that insulin-resistant people may have higher serotonin concentrations. Due to this clinical diagnosis, diabetic women may be more likely to suffer depression than those who are not diabetic.

Diabetes heart challenges

Before menopause, women are usually protected by estrogen against heart diseases. However, for women and diabetes, it is entirely different. Diabetes negates and overrides these protective effects in diabetic women at any age.

For women, diabetes is a unique condition. With it, they are 3 to 7 times more likely to have heart diseases than others. Symptoms of heart attack in women can be different from heart attack symptoms experienced by men.

Women have greater risk to diabetic coma than men. Diabetic coma is a result of lack of insulin and a poorly-controlled diabetes. Diabetic women have heart diseases rates like those of men yet more of them die from a first heart attack than diabetic men.

Women with diabetes experience congestive heart failure compared to those who are not. For women and diabetes, fatalities such as heart attack, chest pain, stroke and coronary heart disease are all involved.

Pregnancy for diabetic women

Pregnant diabetic women are posed with special challenges compared with women who do not have diabetes. They are more likely to develop toxemia, a disorder shown by swelling, visual disturbances, headache, protein in urine and hypertension. Type 1 and gestational diabetes results in some complications for the mother such as birth defects, high birth weight and type 2 diabetes in later years.

Children born of diabetic women are prone to overweight or obesity during adolescence and thus, at greater risk for diabetes as well.

Birth control pills can also be a major issue for women and diabetes. They can affect diabetes control and blood glucose levels. Most diabetic women should not use intrauterine devices because they are already at higher risk of infection, and these devices may lead to infection.