Elevated maternal blood sugar when the fetal heart is forming has been linked to a heightened risk for congenital heart defects, according to a new Stanford study.

Thirty million Americans have diabetes, a disease where the body loses its ability to remove enough sugar from the bloodstream, spurring harmful inflammation systemwide.

While diabetes is a serious chronic disease with devastating complications, it usually develops after years of insulin resistance, or prediabetes.

Diabetes is one of the most serious chronic disease problem in the U.S. Roughly 30 million Americans — 12 percent of adults — have diabetes, and its complications include heart disease, stroke, kidney failure, blindness and amputations.

Each November communities across the country observe National Diabetes Month to bring attention to diabetes and its impact on millions of Americans.