1. Hormones Control More Than PMS
Insulin resistance relates to the hormone insulin. This hormone enables your body to use the glucose produced after you eat. The insulin enables the cells of our body to take in the glucose and turn that into energy. This is why it is important to maintain a healthy weight. All the body's systems are connected, through insulin and other hormone action. When one hormone is not working right, they are all affected.
2. Dropping Pounds Helps
If there is extra fat tissue on the body, this can make you resistant to the effects of insulin. This means people categorized as overweight or obese, have a greater likelihood of acquiring insulin resistance. Since the body's cells need to use insulin to make use of the glucose to convert it to energy, it's important to drop those extra pounds. It may also be why we feel more energized if we are successful. To know if you are overweight or obese, check your BMI, or Body Mass Index. You'll usually find a chart in your doctor's office, and all you need is your height and weight to figure what your BMI is. Going by these numbers, people are overweight if their BMI is between 25 and 29, and they are obese if their BMI is 30 or greater.
3. Mom or Pop May Have Passed It Along
It's thought that the causes of insulin resistance relate to genetic or lifestyle factors, or a combination of both. The fact that insulin resistance runs in families is the reason some researchers believe there is a genetic tie. Aside from that and the lifestyle factors that can affect insulin resistance, some medications and conditions can also affect your risk for acquiring the disease. These conditions are pregnancy, the metabolic syndrome and obesity. Some other risk factors are infection, steroid use and stress on the body. In addition, some are more prone to acquiring the condition, such as those of Latino, Native, Asian or African American descent, women who have had gestational diabetes and those who have high blood pressure or high triglycerides.
4. Symptoms? Maybe Not
Insulin resistance can present itself with dark patches of skin around the back of the neck, elbows, armpits, knees and knuckles, but it also may present with no symptoms at all. This darkening of the skin, called acanthosis nigricans, is only present in the more severe form of insulin resistance. Some tests your doctor may perform are fasting insulin and glucose levels. These may show a high level of insulin and glucose at the same time, proving your body is not using the insulin it has available.
5. Don't Let It Become Serious
If you have insulin resistance, you could be setting yourself up for type 2 diabetes later down the road. You can lower your risk by taking action now by starting an exercise program and a healthy diet. Just be sure to check with your doctor and follow any program she has set up for you.
