Women with a diabetic sibling are at an increased risk of developing gestational diabetes much more than having one or even two diabetic parents, according to a new study in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Reuters reports. The study's authors said the results seem to suggest that gestational diabetes follows a different inheritance path than Type 2 diabetes, which is typically associated with being overweight.

The study found that having two parents with diabetes increased a woman's likelihood of having diabetes eightfold but only doubled the likelihood of gestational diabetes. When a woman has a diabetic sibling, there was a sevenfold increase in the risk of gestational diabetes but only a slightly elevated risk of Type 2 diabetes. The results were based on a study of 4,566 mothers who participated in the National Health and Nutritional Examination Survey.

"Sibling-only history may be a greater risk factor than previously documented," study author Catherine Kim of the University of Michigan Medical School and colleagues wrote. The researchers called for further study of the patterns to identify which women with gestational diabetes have the greatest risk of later developing Type 2 diabetes (Reuters, 1/13).

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