Neurobehaviour of school age children born to diabetic mothers

Abstract

Aim-To study the neurobehavioural eVects that diabetes during pregnancy might have on children by school age. Methods-The neurobehavioural function of 57 school age children born to 48, well controlled diabetic mothers was compared with 57 control children matched for age, birth order, and parental socioeconomic status, using several cognitive, behavioural, sensory and motor neurological tests. Results-The IQ scores of the index group children were similar to those of control children (117.7±13.4 vs 118.5±10.1). There were no diVerences between the groups in various sensory motor functions. However, the index group children performed less well than the controls on indices of fine and gross motor functions, as observed on the Bruininks-Oseretzky test of motor proficiency. The scores of children born to diabetic mothers were higher than controls on the Touwen and Prechtl neurological examination. They also performed worse in the Pollack tapper test which is designed to detect minor neurological deficits, inattention, and hyperactivity. The index children had higher scores on the Conners abbreviated parent-teacher questionnaire which measures hyperactivity and inattention. There was a negative correlation between the performance of the index group children on various neurodevelopmental and behavioural tests and the severity of hyperglycaemia, as assessed by blood glycosylated haemoglobin and acetonuria. Conclusions-Diabetes during pregnancy adversely aVects some fine neurological functions in children at school age, but not their cognitive scores. These eVects are not correlated with the degree of glycaemic control.

Pregnancy Outcome in the <i>Psammomys obesus</i> Gerbil on Low- and High-Energy Diets

“…These results are in compliance with human studies showing that children of diabetic mothers (with pregestational or gestational diabetes) have impaired neuro-developmental functions [28,[37][38][39][40][41][42] . These children demonstrated, while at school age, long-term mild motor defi ciency and reduced attention span with no effect on cognitive ability [39] .…”

Adaptive and Behavioral Development in Children with Down Syndrome at School Age with Special Emphasis on Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)

“…A high rate of Attention Deficit Disorder (ADHD) was previously observed by us in several groups of children; among the offspring of mothers with pregestational diabetes (Ornoy et al, 1998), among children born to mothers with gestational diabetes (Ornoy et al, 1999), as well as among offspring of heroin dependent mothers (Ornoy et al, 2001). These and other studies emphasize the importance of environmental factors to which the developing embryo and fetus were exposed in the etiology of ADHD.…”

Gestational Diabetes mellitus and Neonatal Hyperthyrotropinemia

“…In streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats, fetal thyroid hormone status was severely affected with decreased total extrathyroidal pool of T 4 and T 3 to one third of the normal fetal values, and the low cerebral T 3 level improved only with adequate maternal insulin treatment [21]. The possibility of an impaired availability of intracellular energy stores in the fetus of diabetic pregnancy, as reflected by the decreased T 4 and T 3 tissue concentration found in rats [21], could help to explain in part the adverse effect of maternal diabetes on fine neurological function in school-aged children [22].…”