Diabetic pregnant mothers have four times the risk of having a child with birth defects, according to a recent study.

The study said that both Type 1 diabetes, which tends to appear in childhood, and Type 2 diabetes, which is linked to diet, has been found to cause problems in pregnancy and cause birth defects, miscarriage and overweight babies.

Congenital heart disease and spina bifida risks also increased in pregnant mothers who have diabetes, the research said.

Researchers from the Newcastle University who analyzed data from more than 400,000 pregnancies,

The risk of birth defects increases four-fold if the pregnant mother has diabetes, researchers say.

The Newcastle University study analysed data from more than 400,000 pregnancies in North East England and found that  the risk of birth defects increased from 19 in every 1,000 births for women without pre-existing diabetes to 72 in every 1,000 births for women with diabetes.

Sugar levels in the run-up to conception were the "most important" risk factor which could be controlled, the study said.

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Diabetes, which affects millions of people worldwide, exposes people to other serious risks.  According to studies, people with Type 1 or Type 2 diabetes are at a much higher risk for damage to the eyes, kidney, nerves, and blood vessels.

According to geneticshealth.com, among the more known effects of diabetes to the body are:

Eye damage happens to a diabetic person when blood vessels in the back of the eye or the retina balloon out into pouches.  This stage can progress to a more serious form called proliferative retinopathy when damaged blood vessels closes and replaced by weaker vessels which can leak blood and blocks vision.  These can also cause scar tissue to grow and distort the retina.

Diabetes often cause kidney disease which happen when the blood vessels in the kidney starts to leak allowing protein from the blood to be excreted with urine.  Some vessels eventually collapse such that the remaining blood vessels are eventually damaged causing the kidney to fail.

Diabetes also causes damage to the heart and blood vessels.  High blood sugar damages blood vessels which can lead to blockage and cause heart attacks.  Studies showed that people with diabetes have two to four times the risk of developing heart disease.

Diabetes damages nerves that allow a person to sense temperature, pressure, texture or pain. This nerve damage affects the feet and lower legs of people with diabetes causing numbness.  The problem arises when a diabetic persons gets injured in the foot but does not notice it because of the feeling of numbness.

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