Insulin resistance increases the risk of diabetes. How it manifests itself, who is at risk and what tests you need to do for blood glucose monitoring.
Insulin resistance significantly increases the risk of developing diabetes. What’s even worse is that you could be insulin resistant for years without knowing it because the symptoms are vague or completely absent. When the symptoms are present, we can already talk about prediabetes or, worse, even diabetes. For this reason, it is important to periodically check your blood glucose level through various tests.
What is known for sure is that insulin resistance predominantly “attacks” overweight people with high cholesterol and triglycerides, as well as those with hypertension.
Also read: The diet that reverses diabetes. What to eat if you have prediabetes
Signs of insulin resistance and prediabetes
If you have insulin resistance and are already in the pre-diabetes stage – so you can still take steps to reverse diabetes – you may experience symptoms such as:
- Excessive thirst
- Constant feeling of hunger
- Frequent urination
- Darker skin on the elbows, neck, knees, armpits, finger joints (the condition is called acanthosis nigricans)
- Excessive thickening or drying of the skin
- Hirsutism (excessive hair growth in areas unusual for females, such as the face, chest, abdomen, back)
- Waist over 94 cm for men and over 80 cm for women
- Joint pains
- Excessive hair loss
- Chronic fatigue
- Vision in the fog
- Tingling sensations in the hands or feet
- Frequent infections
- Elevated fasting blood sugar (over 100 mg/dl)
- High blood pressure values (above 130/ above 85 mmHg)
- Elevated triglycerides (over 150 mg/dl)
- Low HDL cholesterol (below 50 mg/dl in women, below 40 mg/dl in men)
Also read: 3 early signs of diabetes. How do you know the disease is at an advanced stage?
Risk factors involved in insulin resistance
Certain people are more likely to develop insulin resistance and therefore diabetes. Among the risk factors that can favor this problem are:
- Sedentary life, without daily movement
- Age over 45 years
- Low good HDL cholesterol, but high bad LDL cholesterol and triglycerides
- High blood pressure (above 140/90 mm Hg)
- Gestational diabetes (diabetes developed during pregnancy)
- Birth of a baby weighing more than 4 kg
- History of cardiovascular disease
- Polycystic ovary syndrome
- Overweight (BMI over 25)
- Abdominal fat
- Genetic inheritance (if there are first-degree relatives who have been diagnosed with diabetes)
- Night shift work
- Sleep disorders
- Diet rich in red meat, sweets, processed products, sweetened soft drinks
Complications of insulin resistance
If metabolic syndrome and, by implication, insulin resistance are not treated, complications can occur. Thus, there is a greater risk of kidney disease, heart attack, vascular accident, vision problems, various forms of cancer or even Alzheimer’s disease.
Read also: Natural treatment for diabetes. What foods and herbs help regulate blood sugar and cholesterol
Tests to do to monitor your blood sugar
If you present several of the risk factors mentioned above, it is very important to monitor your health through regular tests and try to change your lifestyle to reduce the risk of diabetes.
Among the necessary analyzes in this sense are:
- fasting glycemia – the blood sugar level is measured without eating and without drinking anything for at least 8 hours (values below 100 mg/dL are considered normal)
- Hemoglobin A1C (HbA1c test) – measures average blood sugar over the past 2 to 3 months (values below 5.7% are considered normal)
- Test for gestational diabetes (oral glucose tolerance test) – it is done in the 24-28 weeks of pregnancy and involves taking 3 blood sugars: without food (normal values below 92 mg/dL), at one hour (normal values below 180 mg/dL) and two hours after the ingestion of 75 g glucose (normal values below 153 mg/dL)
It is important to note that high blood sugar levels detected during tests do not necessarily mean diabetes. Most of the time, if they are carried out with a preventive purpose, the analyzes indicate prediabetes, that is, the stage in which the patient can still take measures to prevent diabetes.
Lifestyle is the only thing that can make the difference between illness and health. That’s why changes in diet often matter more than actual drug treatment.
Exercising (at least 30 minutes daily), eating a balanced diet, losing weight, avoiding smoking, limiting alcohol consumption, reducing stress and getting quality sleep are key factors in preventing insulin resistance and related conditions.
Sources:
https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/22206-insulin-resistance
https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2014-14117-011
https://www.cdc.gov/diabetes/basics/insulin-resistance.html
https://www.webmd.com/diabetes/insulin-resistance-syndrome
