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Laura I Stirrat,1,2 Rebecca M Reynolds2,3 1Medical Research Council Centre for Reproductive Health, Queens Medical Research Institute, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK; 2Tommy's Centre for Maternal and Fetal Health, Queens Medical Research Institute, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK; 3Endocrinology Unit, University/British Heart Foundation Centre for Cardiovascular Science, Queens Medical Research Institute, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK Abstract: The prevalence of maternal obesity has increased significantly in recent years, and obesity is currently the most common comorbidity of pregnancy. Pregnancies of obese women are often defined as "high-risk" for the purposes of clinical care, with many well documented risks to the mother and developing baby. Maternal physiology and metabolism is dysregulated in the context of obesity, which may contribute to some of the adverse outcomes during pregnancy. Furthermore, maternal obesity has been hypothesized to cause harmful effects for the developing baby through "early life programming." This review will examine evidence from human studies for outcomes of offspring from obese women during pregnancy, during labor, during the neonatal period, and later in life. Keywords: pregnancy, short-term, physiology, metabolism, early life programming, neonatal complications, adverse intrauterine environment

The article discusses the guidelines on the care of pregnant women with obesity. Topics include the information on the risks of obesity during pregnancy and childbirth, the nutritional supplements to be recommended, the measurement of weight, height and body mass index and the factors to be considered in screening, diagnosing and managing maternal disease in obese pregnant women.

Objective: Cerebral microvascular disease associated with type 2 diabetes may exacerbate the effects of aging on cognitive function. A considerable homology exists between the retinal and cerebral microcirculations; a hypothesized association between diabetic retinopathy (DR) and cognitive decline was examined in older people with type 2 diabetes.Research Design and Methods: In the population-based Edinburgh Type 2 Diabetes Study, 1,046 men and women aged 60-75 years with type 2 diabetes underwent standard seven-field binocular digital retinal photography and a battery of seven cognitive function tests. A general cognitive ability score (g) was generated by principal components analysis. The Mill-Hill Vocabulary Scale was used to estimate premorbid cognitive ability. DR was graded using a modification of the Early Treatment of Diabetic Retinopathy Scale.Results: After age and sex adjustment, a significant relationship was observed with increasing severity of DR (none, mild, and moderate to severe) for most cognitive measures. Participants with moderate-to-severe retinopathy had the worst g and the worst performances on the individual tests. There was a significant interaction between sex and retinopathy for g. In male subjects, the associations of retinopathy with g (and with tests of verbal fluency, mental flexibility, and processing speed but not memory and nonverbal reasoning) persisted (P < 0.05) when further adjusted for vocabulary (to estimate lifetime cognitive decline), depression, sociodemographic characteristics, cardiovascular risk factors, and macrovascular disease.Conclusions: DR was independently associated with estimated lifetime cognitive decline in older men with type 2 diabetes, supporting the hypothesis that cerebral microvascular disease may contribute to their observed accelerated age-related cognitive decline. A sex interaction with stronger findings in men requires further confirmation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: People with type 2 diabetes are at increased risk of cognitive impairment but the mechanism is uncertain. Elevated glucocorticoid levels in rodents and humans are associated with cognitive impairment. We aimed to determine whether fasting cortisol levels are associated with cognitive ability and estimated lifetime cognitive change in an elderly population with type 2 diabetes.Research Design and Methods: This was a cross-sectional study of 1,066 men and women aged 60-75 years with type 2 diabetes, living in Lothian, Scotland (the Edinburgh Type 2 Diabetes Study). Cognitive abilities in memory, nonverbal reasoning, information processing speed, executive function, and mental flexibility were tested, and a general cognitive ability factor, g, was derived. Prior intelligence was estimated from vocabulary testing, and adjustment for scores on this test was used to estimate lifetime cognitive change. Relationships between fasting morning plasma cortisol levels and cognitive ability and estimated cognitive change were tested. Models were adjusted for potential confounding and/or mediating variables including metabolic and cardiovascular variables.Results: In age-adjusted analyses, higher fasting cortisol levels were not associated with current g or with performance in individual cognitive domains. However, higher fasting cortisol levels were associated with greater estimated cognitive decline in g and in tests of working memory and processing speed, independent of mood, education, metabolic variables, and cardiovascular disease (P < 0.05).Conclusions: High morning cortisol levels in elderly people with type 2 diabetes are associated with estimated age-related cognitive change. Strategies targeted at lowering cortisol action may be useful in ameliorating cognitive decline in individuals with type 2 diabetes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To determine whether circulating levels of the inflammatory markers C-reactive protein (CRP), interleukin (IL)-6, and tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha are associated with cognitive ability and estimated lifetime cognitive decline in an elderly population with type 2 diabetes.Research Design and Methods: A cross-sectional study of 1,066 men and women aged 60-75 years with type 2 diabetes and living in Lothian, Scotland (the Edinburgh Type 2 Diabetes Study), was performed. Seven cognitive tests were used to measure abilities in memory, nonverbal reasoning, information processing speed, executive function, and mental flexibility. The results were used to derive a general intelligence factor (g). A vocabulary-based test was administered as an estimate of peak prior cognitive ability. Results on the cognitive tests were assessed for statistical association with inflammatory markers measured in a venous blood sample at the time of cognitive testing.Results: Higher IL-6 and TNF-alpha levels were associated with poorer age- and sex-adjusted scores on the majority of the individual cognitive tests. They were also associated with g using standardized regression coefficients -0.074 to -0.173 (P < 0.05). After adjusting for vocabulary, education level, cardiovascular dysfunction, duration of diabetes, and glycemic control, IL-6 remained associated with three of the cognitive tests and with g.Conclusions: In this representative population of people with type 2 diabetes, elevated circulating levels of inflammatory markers were associated with poorer cognitive ability. IL-6 levels were also associated with estimated lifetime cognitive decline. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article offers information on the challenges faced by the healthy weight in pregnancy. It discusses the Obesity as one of the biggest challenges facing global reproductive health. It mentions the understanding of how and to what extent maternal body mass index (BMI) and weight gain during pregnancy contribute to adverse outcomes for mothers and their offspring. It also mentions correlations between pre-pregnancy maternal BMI and the risks of gestational hypertension.