Insulin resistance is a precursor of type 2 diabetes (maturity onset diabetes) Type one diabetes (like young people get) is due to low levels of insulin due to damage probably viral. Insulin resistance results in high levels of insulin which can't do it's job properly. It is commom in other conditions such as cushings. It is likewise caused by steroid treatment. The really bad thing about insulin resistance is that it causes bad effects on lipid metabolism so you get increased heart attacks and strokes. Eventually the pancreas burns out and you get less insulin. The weight loss is due to all the calories being peed away as sugar. You can be can be overweight initially or underweight later on depending on whether you are chucking out sugar in the urine. That also depends on your renal threshold for sugar. Diabetes is diagnosed by the rate at which you remove a measured swallowed sugar load from your bloodstream over a two hour period. This is called an oral GTT glucose tolerance test. The result can tell if you are:
diabetic i.e your sugar doesn't return to less than 11.1mm/l after 2 hours, IGT impaired glucose tolerant the sugar doesn't return to less than 7.8mm/l or IFG impaired fasting glucose, fasting level the level is 6.1 to 7.0 fasting but returns to less than 7.8 after 2 hours. The fasting level is impaired to 7.0 in Diabetes and IGT. Which prompts the doctor to do the GTT. Above 7.0 fasting your diabetic anyway. Many people do not know they are well on their way to becoming diabetic and already have impaired lipid metabolism causing arterial damage. I found it really scary when people were getting heart attacks before they got the diabetes diagnosed. It makes me want to take really good care of myself(and horses, husband too). The fasting level for diagnosing diabetes has lowered over the years. We are talking really heavy burden on the health care system here. Let's not diagnose it too early we might have to spend money treating it! The rate of increase in type 2 diabetes is huge, even children are getting it now. So far drugs can hold it off for a good while. People who make lifestyle changes early do well. I've seen GTT test normalise on a few determined individuals but it's tough going. This is one disease we can and must do something about. 120million people worldwide are affected by type 2 diabetes, this is predicted to almost double to 215 million by 2010. Quote from the British Nutrition Foundation. My question is; 'And then what?' and 'How will we pay for it?' Eat healthy, exercise and hope for the best. Sorry to go on. It was a really scary moment when I realised what was happenning. What you click is what you get. You don't want to be clicking your horse all the way to insulin resistance. Be really careful with those treats. Sue Lincs. UK
