Evaluation of knowledge regarding gestational diabetes mellitus: a Bangladeshi study.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to evaluate the level of knowledge about gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) in Bangladeshi people. STUDY DESIGN: Cross-sectional study. METHODS: This study involving 1374 participants was conducted in 15 outpatient clinics of Diabetic Association of Bangladesh and its affiliated associations, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University and four medical college hospitals in Bangladesh from August 2015 to December 2015. A pretested interviewer-administered questionnaire was used to obtain information related to sociodemographic status, level of education, types of profession, and medical history. The questionnaire included eight questions on GDM. Level of knowledge (mean ± 1 standard deviation [SD]) was categorized as poor, average, and good. Descriptive, Chi-squared, and regression analysis were performed to express the results. RESULTS: Of total knowledge score of 8, participants' mean knowledge score (±SD) was 2.7 ± 1.5. The levels of good, average, and poor knowledge were 26.3%, 63.1%, and 10.6%, respectively. In multivariate analysis, participants aged below 30 years (P < 0.001), male gender (P < 0.001), high-income group (P < 0.001), having university education (P < 0.001), health professionals (P < 0.001), capital Dhaka city residents (P < 0.001), those with family history of diabetes (P = 0.007), and participants with diabetes (P = 0.007) were found to be significantly associated with the good knowledge score. CONCLUSIONS: Participants in this study had average knowledge about GDM. New innovative strategies should be developed to improve the knowledge of GDM among health professionals and general population.

Challenges in HbA1c Analysis and Reporting in Patients with Variant Hemoglobins.

Hemoglobin A1c (HbA(1)c) is a well-established indicator of mean glycemia. The presence of genetic variants of hemoglobin can profoundly affect the accuracy of HbA(1)c measurements. Variants of hemoglobin especially Hemoglobin E (HbE) is prevalent in South East Asia including Bangladesh. The objective of our study is to compare the HbA(1)c values measured on high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and Turbidimetric Inhibition Immunoassay (TINIA) in diabetic patients with variant hemoglobins including HbE. A total of 7595 diabetic patients receiving treatment at BIRDEM General Hospital were analyzed for HbA(1)c results within a period of two months from December 2013 to January 2014. Seventy two cases out of 7595 (0.95%) had either undetectable or below normal HbA(1)c levels (males-33 and females-39; ratio = 0.82:1) by HPLC method. In 34(0.45%) cases, HbA(1)c value was undetectable by HPLC method but was in the reportable range by TINIA method. In the other 38 (0.55%) cases, HbA(1)c levels were below the reportable range (<4%) by HPLC method but were in the normal or higher range by TINIA method. TINIA method did not agree with HPLC method on Bland Altman plot in the 38 cases with below normal HbA(1)c levels, [Mean bias -5.2(-9.3 to 1.0), 95% CI] but agreed very well [mean bias -0.21 (-0.84 to 0.42), y=1.1037+0.776X; r(2)=0.30, p<0.01] in controls. In control group mean MCV was 83.80±7.48 and in study group was 73.65±10.44. Alkaline electrophoresis confirmed the variant hemoglobin to be HbE. The fasting blood sugar levels of all the 72 cases correlated strongly with TINIA method (r(2) =0.75, p<0.0001) but not with HPLC (r = 0.24, p=0.13). In our regions where populations have a high prevalence of Hb variant, proper knowledge of hemoglobin variants which affect the measurements HbA(1)c level is essential. MCV of 80fl or below may serve as a rough guide to select samples that require analysis by TINIA method. Moreover, HPLC may be a convenient and inexpensive tool for screening of hemoglobinopathies especially among diabetic population in Bangladesh. It may therefore be helpful in improving management of complications related to both anaemia and iron overload.

Practical management of diabetes during Ramadan fasting.

Diabetes mellitus is a global epidemic including Bangladesh. It is a chronic, costly and deadly disease. Recent advancement gives us the opportunity to control diabetes and offer the patient to have a normal or near normal life. Fasting during Ramadan is one of the five pillars of Islam. Recent studies show that most of the type-2 diabetic patients can fast during the holy month of Ramadan safely. But they need pre-Ramadan counseling for assessment, education, motivation, dietary and drug adjustment. Ramadan is beneficial for health. Fasting improves metabolic control, reduces weight and helps to control hypertension. Fasting also associated with some risks like-hypoglycemia, diabetic ketoacidosis, hyper osmolar non ketotic coma and dehydration. All of these risks can be significantly reduced by pre-Ramadan counseling. Those who are at very high risks of hypoglycemia and acute diabetic or other complications they should not fast. After recovery they should complete their fast with the consultation of Islamic scholars. If there is hypoglycemia while fasting, fast must be broken. Islam allows us to have a regular blood sugar test during fast. Patient should follow a highly individualized management plan. Close monitoring is essential to prevent complications for safe Ramadan.

Maintenance of glycaemic control with the evening administration of a long acting sulphonylurea in male type 2 diabetic patients undertaking the Ramadan fast.

BACKGROUND: In Ramadan, misuse of hypoglycaemic agents, alterations in diet and hypoglycaemia are frequent. This study assessed whether switching to an evening administration of a long acting sulphonylurea during the 29-day, dawn to dusk fast, can maintain glycaemic control in patients with type 2 diabetes. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Male type 2 diabetic patients from Bangladesh, Pakistan and India, under glycaemic control with gliclazide modified release (MR) 60 mg monotherapy, switched to evening administration of the same dose during Ramadan, and reverted to the morning schedule thereafter. The primary outcome was the difference in fasting plasma glucose (FPG) before and after Ramadan. RESULTS: In 136 patients, mean (95% CI) FPG decreased by 0.01 mmol/l (0-0.2, p = 0.3) with evening medication by the end of the fast, and increased by 0.2 mmol/l (0.1-0.3, p = 0.01) after reverting to morning medication 20 days later. There were 5 (3.7%) hypoglycaemic episodes before, 3 (2.2%) during and 2 (1.5%) after Ramadan. CONCLUSION: Male type 2 diabetic patients undertaking the Ramadan fast can safely maintain glycaemic control with evening administration of gliclazide MR 60 mg during the fast, and reverting to a morning schedule thereafter.

Histopathological changes of pancreas in patients with fibrocalculous pancreatopathy.

A total of 20 pancreatic biopsy samples taken from Fibrocalculous Pancreatopathy previously known as Fibro Calculus Pancreatic Diabetes (FCPD) patients, a variant of Malnutrition Related Diabetes Mellitus (MRDM) or under 30 young diabetes attending hepatobiliary, surgical and out patient department of Bangladesh Diabetes, Endocrine and Metabolic (BIRDEM) hospital were processed for light microscopic examination. Four samples were subjected to Immunohistochemistry (IHC) staining using antibodies to T cell marker (CD3), B cell marker (CD20), anti apoptotic markers (bcl-2) and tumour suppressor gene marker p53. Light microscopic findings and IHC indicate an immune mediated injury of pancreatic tissue and increased evidence of apoptosis which possibly results in the development of diabetes in these patients.

The potential diagnostic utility of coexpression of Ki-67 and P53 in the renal biopsy in pediatric lupus nephritis.

BACKGROUND: The proliferative activity as well as apoptosis has been suggested to play a role in the pathogenesis of lupus nephritis (LN). The aim of the study was to investigate the coexpression of Ki-67-triggered marked proliferation and P53-induced apoptosis in renal biopsy of childhood lupus nephritis (cLN) and to compare the coexpression of proliferative and apoptotic indices between different subgroups and clinicopathologic patterns of renal disease. METHODS: Renal biopsy specimens of 33 children with lupus nephritis (LN) and 10 healthy subjects were retrospectively evaluated. The type of LN and activity and chronicity indices were determined. Ki-67 and P53 immunostaining were performed. The coexpression of Ki-67 and P53 was compared among different subgroups of LN and correlated with disease activity index, serum creatinine, proteinuria, anticardiolipin antibodies, and complement levels. Histopathological examination of LN was classified based on the International Society of Nephrology/Renal Pathology. Histological LN activity was measured by the National Institutes of Health activity index (NIH-AI). RESULTS: In comparison with the healthy control group, the coexpression of Ki-67and P53 was greater in cLN (particularly in classes II, III, and IV) than in normal renal tissue. The coexpression of Ki-67and P53 shows a positive correlation with subclasses II, III, and IV of LN (P<0.02) and LN activity index (P<0.03). Moreover, the positive correlation was found between the coexpression of Ki-67 and P53 with erythrocyte sedimentation rate (P<0.02), D-dimer (P<0.03), serum creatinine (P<0.03), proteinuria (P<0.04), and anticardiolipin antibodies (P<0.05) significantly. Unexpectedly, adverse correlation between the coexpression of Ki-67 and P53 with serum C3 (P<0.02) and C4 complement (P<0.03) was significant. CONCLUSION: Our data showed that the coexpression of Ki-67-induced marked proliferation and P53-induced apoptosis in proliferative and active phases of cLN could reflect a valuable marker for treatment and remission in cLN patients before reaching the end stage of renal disease.

Oyster mushroom reduced blood glucose and cholesterol in diabetic subjects.

It has been postulated that mushroom has beneficial effect of lowering blood glucose and cholesterol in diabetic subjects. The literature so far searched and found that there was no published data in this regard. This study was undertaken to assess the effect of reducing blood glucose, cholesterol and triglycerides in diabetic patients. Additionally, this study addressed whether there was any hepatic and renal toxicity of mushroom. This clinical investigation was conducted in BIRDEM hospital from July 2005 to January 2006. Eighty-nine subjects were recruited. Baseline investigations included height, weight, blood pressure (SBP, DBP), plasma glucose for fasting (FPG) and 2-h after-breakfast (2hPG), total cholesterol (T-chol), triglycerides (TG) and high-density lipoprotein (HDL-c). Twenty- four days' study constitutes 7-days mushroom, 7-days no mushroom and then 7-days mushroom. Investigations were done at the start and each after every 7-days. Thirty subjects (M / F = 17 / 13) followed to ensure full compliance with the designed protocol for 24 days. The mean (SD) age of the participants was 46.3 (10) years. Mushroom significantly reduced systolic and diastolic blood pressure (SBP, p<0.01; DBP, p<0.05). It also lowered both plasma glucose significantly (FPG & 2-hPG, p<0.001). Mushroom also lowered total cholesterol and TG significantly; whereas, there was no significant change in weight and HDL-c. When mushroom was withdrawn, there were significant increases of DBP, FPG, 2hPG, T-cholesterol and TG, whereas, no significant change was observed in weight, SBP and HDL-c. Restarting mushroom there was again significant reduction of blood glucose, TG and cholesterol. We conclude that mushroom significantly reduced blood glucose, blood pressure, TG and cholesterol of diabetic subjects without any deleterious effect on liver and kidney. The effect of mushroom may be investigated in a large sample for a longer duration to evaluate its efficacy and toxicity.

Prevalence of diabetes and impaired fasting glucose in urban population of Bangladesh.

We investigated the prevalence of type 2 diabetes (T2DM) and impaired fasting glycemia (IFG) and their risk factors in the urban population of Bangladesh. The study was carried out in Dhaka City Corporation with a population of 99,12,908 in 20,89,336 households distributed in 95 wards. Using a multistage cluster sampling, we investigated 5265 eligible participants of 20 age years and above for height, weight, waist-girth, hip-girth, blood pressure and fasting blood glucose. Body mass index (BMI) and waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) were calculated. We used WHO diagnostic criteria of 1999. The overall prevalence of T2DM was 11.2% and IFG was 5.9%. The age-standardized prevalence of T2DM (95% CI) was 10.5% (9.37-11.13) and IFG was 5.2% (4.51-5.84). Compared with the slum dwellers, the non-slum dwellers had significantly higher prevalence of both T2DM (7.4 vs. 13.4%, p<0.001) and IFG (4.1 vs. 7.4%, p<0.001). Logistic regression analysis showed that family history of diabetes, higher family income, sedentary lifestyle and higher quartiles of age, BMI and WHR were significantly related to diabetes. The prevalence of diabetes in the urban population has increased alarmingly in recent years. Older age, obesity, higher income, family history of diabetes and reduced physical activity were proved to be the significant risk factors for diabetes and IFG.

The Diabcare-Asia 1998 study--outcomes on control and complications in type 1 and type 2 diabetic patients.

UNLABELLED: The aim of this study was to describe the glycaemic and metabolic control and diabetes-related complications in type 1 and type 2 Asian patients. METHODS: Data of diabetes patients from 230 diabetes centres in 12 Asian regions were collected on a retrospective-prospective basis through review of medical records, interview and laboratory assessments. Analysis of glycated haemoglobin (HbA1c) was carried out in central laboratories appointed by Bio-Rad. The data collection case record forms were scanned electronically. RESULTS: 22177 patients with valid data made up the analysis population. Among patents with type 1 and type 2 diabetes, there was a higher proportion of women than men (53% vs. 47% for type 1 patients and 56% vs. 44% for type 2 diabetes). Hypertension (61%) and overweight (40% with BMI > or = 25 kg/m2 were common in type 2 patients. Dyslipidaemia was also present in at least half of both types of patients. Control of glycaemia (mean HbA,1c and fasting blood glucose [FBG]) was poor in type 1 (9.9 +/- 2.5%; 10.2 +/- 5.2 mmol/l) and type 2 patients (8.5 +/- 2.0%; 8.9 +/- 3.4 mmol/l). Glycaemia in the majority of both types of patients fell short of those stipulated by various guidelines. In type 2 patients, glycaemia deteriorated (HbA1c > 7.5%, FBG > or = 7.0 mmol/l) with duration of diabetes > 7 years. Both types of diabetes appear to share a similar high prevalence of complications of cataract, retinopathy and neuropathy, although the prevalence of cataract (27%) and neuropathy (35%) was higher in type 2 diabetes. Screening for microalbuminuria was not common. CONCLUSIONS: The Inadequate metabolic and hypertension control, especially in type 2 patients, needs to be addressed.

Human cytogenetical case report of Turner's syndrome. Report-I.

A case of typical Turner's syndrome with short stature, broad chest with widely spaced nipple, prominent carrying angle, short metacarpels and absence of secondary sex characters is reported. The cytological observation showed sex chromatin negative and 45, XO chromosomal constitution.

Coccinia indica in the treatment of patients with diabetes mellitus.

Coccinia indica is a creeper which grows wildly in Bangladesh and in many parts of the Indian sub-continent. The plant has been used since ancient times as an antidiabetic drug by physicians who practice the Indian system of medicine known as Ayurvedha. We have conducted a double blind control trial with preparation from the leaves of the plant on uncontrolled, maturity onset diabetics. The trial lasted for six weeks for an individual patient. Out of the 16 patients who received the experimental preparations 10 showed marked improvement in their glucose tolerance while none out of the 16 patients in the dummy group showed such a marked improvement. This difference is highly significant (kappa 2 with Yates' correction = 11.7, P < 0.001).

Metabolic and hormonal profile of the offsprings of conjugal diabetics.

Oral glucose tolerance response to blood glucose, serum immunoreactive insulin (IRI) and plasma free fatty acid (FFA) levels were studied on 159 offsprings of both parent diabetics (connubials). Fasting serum cholesterol, triglyceride, phospholipid and total lipids were also measured in these subjects. We detected 6 diabetics out of 159 connubials at the time of our study. FFA level in 6 diabetic connubials were higher all time intervals than 153 non-diabetics connubials. Fasting and one hour post glucose response were less in 6 diabetic connubial but two hours post glucose IRI response to both 6 diabetic connubials and 153 non-diabetic connubials were same indicating a delayed insulin secretion in response to oral glucose level in 6 diabetic connubials.

Waist-to-height ratio is a better obesity index than body mass index and waist-to-hip ratio for predicting diabetes, hypertension and lipidemia.

Body mass index (BMI, kg/m.sq) and waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) are widely used as obesity indices for diabetes and cardiovascular risks. Lower adult height was related to diabetes and stroke. Waist-girth was proved important for visceral obesity. Incorporating waist-girth and height as waist-to-height ratio (WHtR), we reported earlier--"Waist-to-height ratio is an important predictor of hypertension and diabetes". We readdressed this index in a larger sample with two-sample OGTT and lipid profiles. In a cluster sampling of 16,818 rural inhabitants, considering age > or = 20 y, 5713 subjects were found eligible. Of them, 4923 (M/F=2321/2602) volunteered for height, weight, blood pressure, waist-girth and hip-girth. Fasting venous blood (5 ml) was drawn for plasma glucose, total cholesterol (T-chol), Triglycerides (TG) and high-density lipoprotien (HDL-c). Overall, 1565 participants were undertaken for OGTT. The mean (SD) values of BMI, WHR and WHtR for subjects with diabetes and hypertension were significantly higher in either sex. The level significance was highest for WHtR. The prevalence of diabetes and hypertension increased significantly with higher quintiles of BMI, WHR and WHtR (chi sq values were largest in WHtR for both events). Partial correlation coefficients, controlling for age and sex, showed that BMI, WHR and WHtR significantly correlated with systolic and diastolic BP, FBG, T-chol and TG. In the entire correlation matrix, the 'r' values were the highest for WHtR. Taking diabetes and hypertension as dependent variables, logistic regression also showed the highest odds ratio in higher WHtR than BMI and WHR. We conclude that WHtR was proved again a valuable obesity index for predicting diabetes, hypertension and lipidemia.

Genetic background of diabetic and nondiabetic sibs in young Bangladeshis.

The prevalence of diabetes mellitus in the young is higher in Bangladesh like other Asian developing nations. Albeit, undernutrition has been shown to be associated with diabetes in the young, not all such individuals are diabetic. Diabetes Mellitus is a multigenic disease. In IDDM, DR3/4 heterozygotes were shown to have a greatly increased risk of developing the disease, suggesting the concept of genetic factor(s) being involved in the development of diabetes. Therefore, this study was undertaken to determine the distribution of HLA class II alleles (DRB) and to identify the HLA associated risk for developing diabetes mellitus in the young Bangladeshis. A total of fifty individuals were investigated. Half of them (n=25) were diabetic patients, registered in BIRDEM and half the participants were their non-diabetic sibs. A genomic DNA PCR and Enzyme Linked Probe Hybridization Assay (ELPHA, Bio-test, Germany) was used to determine HLA class II alleles (DRB1, DRB 3, 4, 5) by in vitro amplification of DRB gene. Among all the sero-equivalent antigens found in the study subjects, the prevalence of DR15 (DR2) was overrepresented, both in the diabetic subjects and in their non-diabetic sibs. Moreover, compared with the non-diabetic group the diabetic patients showed higher frequency of DR15 alleles (39 and 25%) though the difference was not significant (chisq. 1.7, p>0.05). Next to DR15, DR4 was the most prevalent HLA-DRB gene found in the study population. Interestingly, the frequency of DR4 was higher in the diabetic than in the non-diabetic group (20 vs. 14%). The study showed that the DR15 and DR4 were the most prevalent in the study population. Moreover, DR7 though not very significant, was higher in non-diabetic compared to their diabetic sibs. Comparison between the diabetic and non-diabetic sibs could have been interesting and significant but we could not confirm our findings, possibly, due to small sample size. A study in a larger paired sample of unrelated population is also needed to substantiate our findings, and also to prove the susceptibility or resistant haplotype in the young diabetic subjects.

Fasting cut-offs in determining the prevalence of diabetes and intermediate glucose abnormality in a non-obese population.

The study was undertaken to compare the effect of ADA and WHO criteria for screening of diabetes mellitus (DM) and intermediate glucose abnormality (Impaired fasting glucose/Impaired glucose tolerance-IFG/IGT) and to explore an acceptable fasting cut-off in a population-based study. Ten suburb villages with a population of 11,895 were selected purposively. Of the total 6235 eligible (> or = 20y) subjects, 4144 volunteered. We took height, weight, hip- and waist-girth, blood pressure and fasting blood glucose (FBG). All participants were classified into Group-1 (Gr-1: n=453) and Group-2 (Gr-2: n=3691), based on FBG above and below 5.4 mmol/l, respectively. All from Gr-1 and 610 randomized subjects from Gr-2 were investigated for oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT), HbA1c and lipids. The mean (SD) of age, body mass index (BMI) and FBG of all participants was 37.6 (15.2) y, 19.4 (2.9), and 4.7 (0.9) mmol/l, respectively. The prevalence of diabetes and IFG/IGT using American Diabetes Association (ADA) criteria were compared with WHO criteria separately in Gr-1 and Gr-2. For group-1, ADA criteria could diagnose 5.9% as diabetes and 2.1% as IFG, whereas, WHO criteria diagnosed 11.5% diabetes and 19% IGT. Likewise, in Gr-2, ADA detected much less than WHO criteria (DM: 0.3 vs. 2.3%; IFG/IGT 1.0 vs. 14.6%). We compared fasting and 2 hours post-load glucose (2-hBG) values according to percentiles. We found that 11.1 of 2-hBG corresponded with a fasting value that lies between 90 to 95th percentile, equivalent to 5.1-5.7 mmol/l. Using receiver operating characteristics (ROC) curve, we determined the cut-offs 4.6 - 5.4 mmol/l for IFG and > or = 5.5 for diabetes. Taking age and BMI into account the kappa agreements were better between the estimated cut-offs and the given 2-hBG values. The ADA cut-offs were found ineffective for screening. We proposed the modified fasting cut-offs for screening IFG and diabetes among the non-obese population.

Prevalence of hypertension in Bangladesh: effect of socioeconomic risk factor on difference between rural and urban community.

Several studies reported that migrant Bangladeshis had greater risk for hypertension, diabetes and coronary heart disease compared with the Europeans and other migrant South Asians. So far, there has been no such study among the native population. This paper reports the hypertension prevalence and related risks among native Bangladeshis. A total of 2,361 subjects over 20 years of age were investigated. Overall prevalence rates of systolic and diastolic hypertension in the study population were 14.4 and 9.1 percent respectively. The prevalence of systolic hypertension was significantly higher in rural than in urban participants (P < 0.001). Compared with the poor the rich class had significantly higher prevalence of both systolic (P = 0.002) and diastolic (P = 0.041) hypertension. With increase of age, body mass index (BMI) and blood glucose level were significantly related to hypertension (P < 0.0001); whereas the trend for increasing waist-to-hip ratio (WHR), adjusting for social class, was not significant. Regression analysis showed that age, BMI, rural area and rich class were the strong predictors for hypertension. This study explored that hypertension prevalence in the native Bangladeshis is almost comparable to that of other Asian populations and South Asian migrants.

Urinary iodine status and thyroid dysfunction: a Bangladesh perspective.

Iodine deficiency is endemic in Bangladesh. Compulsory iodization of table salt was introduced since 1993 to prevent and improve thyroid disorders in the country. Urinary iodine status, thyroid function and antithyroid antibodies were studied in 397 newly diagnosed thyroid patients and 94 age-sex matched controls. Among thyroid patients, 96 were hyperthyroid, 185 euthyroid and 116 hypothyroid. Mean and median urinary iodine were higher (p=0.075) in thyroid patients (26.13+/-0.91 and 23.03) than controls (22.65+/-1.47 and 18.59); in hyperthyroid and euthyroid than hypothyroid (p=0.020); in multinodular (28.08+/-2.80 and 26.94) and diffuse (27.35+/-1.19 and 26.71) goitre than uninodular (23.91+/-2.37 and 19.14) and nongoitrous (NG, 21.5+/-2.05 and 18.27) (p=0.098) patients but no sex difference (p=0.466). Antimicrosomal (26.7%) and antithyroglobulin (34%) antibodies were more frequently positive among thyroid patients than controls (6.4% and 12.8% respectively) (p=0.00002 and p=0.00005 respectively). Antibody positivity was higher in diffuse (82/228) and multinodular (20/47) goitre than nongoitrous (20/56) and uninodular (13/66) goitre (p=0.046) as well as in hypothyroid (55.2%) and hyperthyroid (36.5%) than euthyroid (19.5%) patients (P<0.001). Urinary iodine correlated neither with antimicrosomal (thyroid patients: p=0.597 and control: p=0.112) nor with antithyroglobulin (thyroid patients: p=0.388 and control: p=0.195) antibody. Thyroid autoimmunity and dysfunction seems common; and interaction of salt iodization with iodine status and thyroid disorders may be important in Bangladesh.

Diabetes and hypertension in pregnancy in a rural community of Bangladesh: a population-based study.

AIMS: Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) is associated with increased infant mortality. Diabetes and infant mortality is higher in Bangladesh but the prevalence of diabetes and hypertension in pregnancy is not known. Thus, this study addressed the prevalence of diabetes and hypertension in pregnancy. METHODS: We selected 10 villages randomly in a union council of Nandail subdistrict. Following a population census (n = 14 382: male/female = 7476/6906) on demography and marital status, we interviewed 2205 married women (18-44 years) for detection of pregnancy. Of a total of 172 pregnancies, we investigated 147 with a gestational age of 24-28 weeks for obstetrical history, clinical examination and blood pressure (BP). Fasting (FBG) and 2-h blood glucose (2hBG) were assessed by Hemocue cuvette. WHO diagnostic criteria were used. RESULTS: The overall prevalence (95% CI) of diabetes was 6.8% (1.88-9.32) and 8.2% (3.74-12.64) according to FBG and 2hBG, respectively. The crude prevalence of systolic and diastolic hypertension was 6.8 and 5.4%, respectively. The median (interquartile range) values for age, BMI and FBG of the participants were 25.0 (21.0-30.0) years, 19.5 (18.2-21.2) and 3.9 (3.6-4.3), respectively. The history of abortion, neonatal death and stillbirth was found in 19.9, 11.4 and 9.6%, respectively. The prevalence of GDM was higher among those with the history of stillbirth (15.4 vs. 6.0%) and neonatal death (11.8 vs. 6.2%) than those without. CONCLUSION: The prevalence of GDM in rural Bangladesh is comparable with any other population with higher prevalence of GDM. Increased morbidity and mortality among mothers and newborns in Bangladesh may, in part, be because of increased prevalence of GDM.