subject: Type 2 Diabetes - What Is Insulin Resistance? [print this page] Type 2 Diabetes - What Is Insulin Resistance?
When you start getting information on Type 2 Diabetes you will frequently hear the term insulin resistance bandied about. What exactly does that term mean? It is a well known fact that this medical term refers to a reduced ability of some body cells to use insulin to convert blood sugar into glycogen. In a normal biological situation, one's body turns carbs into glucose during the digestion process. Understand that that the glucose travels around the body waiting for a cell picks it up. The cell needs to turn the glucose into a form of energy it can burn, namely glycogen. That is the part in which insulin comes in. The cell grabs insulin out of the blood and uses it to turn glucose into glycogen.
When insulin resistance develops, the cells appear to ignore the insulin in the blood stream. They continue to send out the message that they require the insulin. In response, the islets of Langerhans in the pancreas start overproducing insulin. This will assist in lowering blood glucose levels in the short term. However, over a long time period, an over production of insulin can have dire results. One is that the islets of Langerhans cannot keep up the pace of overproduction. This is likely from damage due to the overproduction of insulin or from the overconcentration of
Who is likely to develop insulin resistance? So, excess bodyweight and a sedentary life-style are big factors inthe start of this resistance. Did you know genetics or familiy history could also be a compent of the picture as well. Nevertheless, don't be fooled, even if no one in your family has Type two Diabetes. Anyone, despite a clean family history, can develop type 2 diabetes if they carry too much weight or do not exercise enough. Insulin resistance develops without looking into your genetic or family background. In the past, this resistance developed more in older age. But, more and more people unfortunately receive a diagnosis of Type 2 Diabetes at younger ages. The most alarming is in children and teens.
Insulin resistance is reversible in many people before type 2 diabetes develops. It means making the right changes early enough to count. Exercise has a direct link with diminishing the condition. The greater you undertake exercise the less insulin resistance is likely to develop. Losing weight also helps reduce the resistance. These changes are the same pre-diabetics and diabetics need to make. They are indeed smart ones for just about anyone else as well.
