Women who have had gestational diabetes appear to have a 40% greater likelihood of developing coronary artery calcification (CAC) later in life, in comparison with those who never had it, suggests a new study. Additionally, reaching normal glycemic levels does not seem to decrease their midlife risk for atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease.

The study looked into data from 1,133 women, 18-30 years of age, recruited in the Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults (CARDIA) study, had no diabetes in the baseline years (1985-1986) and had given birth at least once in the subsequent 25 years. Among the women who had given birth, 12% had GD. About 25% of the GD patients had CAC, compared to 15% in the non-GD group. Additionally, among women in the GD group, the adjusted hazard ratio for developing CAC with normoglycemia was found to be 2.3 (95% confidence interval, 1.34-4.09). The study is published in the journal Circulation… (Medscape)