Preventing High Blood Pressure & Diabetes: Risk Factors, Symptoms & Pregnancy

Question
What are ways to prevent getting diabetes and high blood pressure?
Followup To
Question -
are there any symptoms to high blood pressure and diabetes? are headaches a symptom of them, and is it dangerous to have high blood pressure and diabetes when you are pregnant?
Answer -
Hypertension and/or diabetes can lead to complications during pregnancy. It is important to manage diabetes and hypertension carefully. Hypertension in early pregnancy may indicate a chronic condition (that existed prior to the pregnancy). Hypertension in later pregnancy may lead to preeclampsia, which has devastating effects for the baby. Headach is a symptoms of high blood pressure (but not diabetes). We check blood pressure at every obstetrical visit and can give some medications to control any rise in pressure. Diabetes is a problem during pregnancy as well. We usually check for diabetes at 28 weeks gestation using a glucose tolerance test. If you are diagnosed with "gestational diabetes" you will be placed on a restrictive diet and your blood sugars will be checked periodically. Diabetes can cause miscarriage, stillbirth, and macrosomia (large babies). It also must be carefully managed.

Answer
There is nothing you can do to prevent gestational diabetes. If you have a prediliction for it during pregnancy, it will appear. Your doctor will check for it and manage it if it appears. As for hypertension, some people can develop high blood pressure no matter what they do. Certainly obesity can contribute to hypertension as well as smoking. Your doctor checks your blood pressure at every visit and will treat it if it appears abnormal.