Diabetes quadruples birth defects risk, say researchers

More fallout from this primarily fat person disease of choice that leads to early nutritional child abuse.

The risk of birth defects increases four-fold if the pregnant mother has diabetes, researchers say.

The Newcastle University study, published in the journal Diabetologia, analysed data from more than 400,000 pregnancies in North East England.

The risk of defects such as congenital heart disease and spina bifida were increased.

National guidelines already recommend having good control over blood sugar levels before trying to conceive.

Both Type 1 diabetes, which tends to appear in childhood, and Type 2 diabetes, often linked to diet, lead to problems controlling the amount of sugar in the blood.

This is known to cause problems in pregnancy, such as birth defects, miscarriage and the baby being overweight due to too much sugar.

There is concern that rising levels of diabetes, particularly Type 2, could make the issue worse.

And the rest of us get to pay for it.