Search

Background: A variety of screening tools and criteria are used for the diagnosis of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM). As a result, the prevalence rate of GDM varied from 4.41% to 57.90% among studies from Pakistan. Beside this disagreement, similar multi-centric studies, community surveys and pooled evidence were lacking from the country. Therefore, this first systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to measure the overall and subgroup pooled estimates of GDM and explore the methodological variations among studies for any inconsistency. Methods: Using the PRISMA guidelines, seventy studies were identified from PubMed, ScienceDirect, Google Scholar and PakMediNet database. Of them, twenty-four relevant studies were considered for systematic review and nine eligible studies selected for meta-analysis. AXIS was used for measuring quality of reporting, I^2 statistics for heterogeneity among studies and subgroups, funnel plot for reporting potential publication bias and forest plot for presenting pooled estimates. Results: The pooled sample of nine studies was 27,034 (126 – 12,450) pregnant women, of any gestational age, from all four provinces of Pakistan. Overall pooled estimate of GDM was 16.7% (95% CI 13.1 – 21.1). The highest subgroup pooled estimate of GDM observed in studies from Balochistan (35.8%), followed by Islamabad (23.9%), Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (17.2%), Sindh (13.2%), and Punjab (11.4%). The studies that adopted 75g 2-h OGTT had a little lower pooled estimate (16.3% vs. 17.3%); and that adopted diagnostic cut-off values [≥ 92 (F), ≥ 180 (1-h) and ≥ 153 (2-h)] had a greater pooled estimate (25.4% vs. 15.8%). The studies that adopted Carpenter criteria demonstrated the highest subgroup pooled estimate of GDM (26.3%), after that IADPSG criteria (25.4%), and ADA criteria (23.9%). Conclusions: Along with poor quality of reporting, publishing in non-indexed journals and significant disagreement between studies, the prevalence rate of GDM is high in Pakistan. Consensus building among stakeholders for recommended screening methods; and continuous medical education of the physicians are much needed for a timely detection and treatment of GDM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Diabetes mellitus is a genetic and endocrine system disease that creates injurious health effects not in Pakistan but throughout the world. Several functional compounds are present in buckwheat which has distinct biological properties of cholesterollowering, anti-hypertension, improving constipation and obesity. The recent research was directed to study the nutritional and hypoglycemic effect of buckwheat in Type 2 diabetic rats induced by alloxan. Methods: Two varieties of buckwheat were examined for their nutritional composition and mineral content according to the methods of AACC (2000) while antioxidant activity was measured by using DPPH and a spectrophotometer. Alloxan induced diabetic mice were applied to investigate the blood-glucose-lowering effect of common buckwheat extract (CBE) and Tartary buckwheat extract (TBE). After type 2 diabetic induced rats were separated randomly into three groups. Results: The results revealed that Common buckwheat flour (CBF) contains12. 93% crude protein, 2.39% crude fat, 9.42% crude fiber and 2.90% ash content, while Tartary buckwheat flour (TBF) contains14.88% crude protein, 3.47% crude fat, 12.03% crude fiber, and 2.86% ash content. TBF contains significantly higher minerals as compared to CBF and also exhibited higher antioxidant activity. The results for diabetes-induced mice showed a significant difference for fasting blood glucose level, glucose tolerance test and body weight among control diabetic mice (group I) and diabetic mice given the CBE (group II) and TBE (group III). The fasting blood glucose level of group I increased while it decreased in group II and group III over time. Group II and group III had more glucose tolerance as compared to group I. Conclusion: The present study demonstrated that TBF contains higher nutritional contact as compared to CBF. Furthermore, it was indicated that the oral administration of CBE and TBE could lower the blood glucose level and can increase glucose tolerance effectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]