Insulin Resistance Disorder is a syndrome in which a person’s body may produce insulin, but they are unable to utilize it for fuel. In a normal functioning individual, the pancreas will produce insulin which is transported in the bloodstream. The insulin converts sugar from digested food into energy and moves it into muscles, fat, and tissues within the body. When a person has insulin resistance disorder, their insulin metabolism-not their insulin function-is impaired. Therefore, their blood sugar will remain elevated until additional insulin is produced.
To compensate for the abundance of sugar in the blood, the liver will respond by decreasing the production of glucose. This reduction, however, may not occur in people with this disorder. In addition to the cells being deprived of glucose and the liver overproducing glucose, the fat cells are affected as well. Without insulin to help contain and break down lipids and triglycerides, fatty acids are free to roam through the blood and invade plasma. All of these processes result in a vicious cycle of raised insulin and sugar levels which contribute to other conditions, such as metabolic syndrome, diabetes, and heart disease.
Insulin Resistance Disorder – Symptoms
There are numerous symptoms of insulin resistance disorder, but a person may not realize that they signal the beginning of a serious condition unless several occur all at once. The most obvious warning signs are increased cravings for carbohydrates, bloating, and excessive weight gained suddenly, especially around the mid-section. These symptoms occurring together could lead people to believe that their indulgences caused their bloating and weight gain, but that may not be the case.
People should also look to other signs, such as acne, skin tags, and darkened patches on their joints in addition to mood swings, fatigue, and poor sleep patterns.Women may notice recurrent yeast infections, changes in their menstrual cycles, and excessive facial hair, while other individuals-women and men-may lose their hair. Other symptoms like high or low blood pressure, high triglycerides, high HDL, low LDL, and high blood sugar levels also indicate insulin resistance disorder, but they may not be evident unless you have these tested often. A doctor will need to perform certain tests to confirm this diagnosis.
Insulin Resistance Disorder – Diagnosis
When a doctor suspects that an individual has insulin resistance disorder, he may conduct a glucose tolerance test or a fasting glucose tolerance test. Many times, people with this disorder will pass both tests and may be dismissed as having any marked issues. Women with Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome normally pass the glucose tests and are insulin resistant. They are ideal candidates for alternative tests that measure insulin, and not glucose. These tests can be done similar to glucose tests by doing a blood test and checking the insulin level or by comparing the ratio of glucose to insulin.
To make a final determination, an individual must meet three criteria fordiagnosis.They are Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome, pre-Diabetes, having LDL cholesterol below 50 mg/dL for men and 40 mg/dL for women, blood pressure above 130/85, fasting glucose above 112 mg/dL, triglycerides above 150 mg/dL, and a waist circumference above 40” for men and 35” for women.
