German expert: screen pregnant women for diabetes:
This article was originally published in Clinica
Executive Summary
A leading German obstetrician has called for pregnant women to be screened for diabetes after the 24th week, using a glucose tolerance test. Professor Andreas Plagemann from Berlin's Charite hospital said many young mothers were overweight or obese, but were unaware of their condition's link with diabetes. Prof Plagemann said that, according to calculations, testing could spare some 80,000 children born to diabetic mothers annually in Germany from the possible consequences of contracting diabetes. At a cost of only E6 ($6.70), the glucose tests would, in effect, pay for themselves, because the statutory health insurance funds currently spend more than E18bn per year to treat diseases linked with being overweight.