2 Clinical Trials for Various Conditions
The proposed discordant identical and fraternal twin study of incident type 2 diabetes and incident obesity is pivotal to public health because this study design compares diseased twins with their non-diseased co-twins for a better understanding of environment-induced hydroxymethylation independent of genetic influences as the novel biological mechanism underlying the diseases. By engaging students in the proposed co-twin control study, we will prepare our next generation of public health researchers to sustain our impact on public health across generations. The discovery of new environmentally and epigenetically therapeutic and preventive regimens will pave the way to fight against incident type 2 diabetes and incident obesity.
The overall goal of the Study of Women, Infant Feeding and Type 2 Diabetes after GDM pregnancy (SWIFT) is to determine the relation of longer and more intensive lactation, as compared to formula feeding, on progression to incident type 2 diabetes mellitus among women within several years following delivery of a GDM pregnancy. The initial study enrolled women with recent GDM at 6 to 9 weeks post-delivery to reclassify oral glucose tolerance and conduct subsequent testing of glucose tolerance to ascertain progression to overt diabetes up to two years later. Research methods were utilized to assess lactation intensity and duration quantitatively and to evaluate incidence rates of diabetes, as well as changes in blood glucose levels, insulin resistance, body weight, waist circumference, and overall adiposity from baseline and up to several years later. SWIFT is a prospective, observational cohort study of 1,035 women recruited during pregnancy who were diagnosed with gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) via Carpenter and Coustan criteria and enrolled into the research study. We assessed the natural history of progression to prediabetes and type 2 diabetes from early postpartum for a racially and ethnically diverse cohort of women with GDM (75% minority) at high-risk for developing overt diabetes within 5-10 years post-delivery.