15% of Vietnam Pregnant Women Suffering from Diabetes

As many as 15% of pregnant women in Vietnam are developing diabetes, a survey on 100 pregnant women conducted by a team of doctors from Hanoi-based Thanh Nhan Hospital showed. Notably, aging pregnant women and Body Mass Index (BMI) groups are developing the disease the most, the Dat Viet newspaper reported, citing the survey. Diabetes during pregnancy, which is a disorder of carbohydrate intolerance at different degrees, causes congenital abnormalities to the fetus, including hydrocephalus and heart defects and pre-eclampsia to the mother. Most of the Vietnamese people are unaware of diabetes’ danger and many of them don’t even know they have the illness until its complications appear, doctors said. Vietnam is listed among countries worldwide with the fastest-growing rate of diabetes with five million people suffering from the disease.