Iowa researcher to study brain blood flow in women after gestational diabetes
University of Iowa researcher Adam Corkery has received a grant to study the link between gestational diabetes and brain blood vessel dysfunction. The study aims to determine if this dysfunction contributes to the increased risk of dementia and stroke in women who had diabetes during pregnancy.
Why it matters
Understanding the long-term neurological impacts of gestational diabetes is critical for improving women's health outcomes and preventative care strategies.
A University of Iowa researcher has won a nearly $272,000 grant to study blood flow in the brains of women who were diagnosed with diabetes during pregnancy.
Women with a history of gestational diabetes have a 40% increased risk of blood-brain disorders such as stroke and a 67% increased risk of dementia compared with women without the disease.
Health care professionals face challenges treating individuals with a history of gestational diabetes because women with the disease typically do not have low insulin sensitivity or high blood glucose before and after pregnancy, despite both being primary indicators of diabetes.
Adam Corkery, a postdoctoral fellow in the Microvascular Physiology Lab at the University of Iowa, is the principal investigator and the grant recipient.
The Microvascular Physiology Lab previously had found that gestational diabetes causes dysfunction in the skin's blood vessels in otherwise healthy women.
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