Gut feeling gives hope to diabetics
BOOSTING the amount of good bacteria in the guts of pregnant women with type 1 diabetes could reduce their higher chance of pregnancy complications, as well as give their babies a healthier start to life.
Being born to a mum with a gut microbiome rich in anti-inflammatory bacteria could help “prime” the baby’s immune system and prevent them going on to develop the lifelong auto-immune condition.
The theory will be tested by a team of researchers led by the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research in Melbourne, after uncovering key differences in the constellation of gut bacteria in pregnant women with type 1 diabetes.
Lead researcher Len Harrison said women with type 1 diabetes had a 10-fold increased risk of developing pre-eclampsia – the potentially life-threatening high blood pressure condition of pregnancy – as well having a premature baby.
“The gut microbiome is known to be critical to health, and it regulates inflammation,” he said.
But women with type 1 diabetes were lacking in the types of helpful bacteria that prevent inflammation.
Emily Burkimsher was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at age two, and while she managed good diabetes control to have healthy pregnancies, both sons were born two months early. “My dream is my boys don’t have to go through what I’ve been through,” she said.