04/12/2024
Overview
Learn about insulin resistance and what insulin does in your body.
What is insulin resistance?
Insulin resistance happens when cells in your muscles, fat and liver don’t respond to insulin as they should. This is also known as impaired insulin sensitivity. Insulin is essential for life and regulating blood glucose (sugar) levels.
Insulin helps move glucose from your blood into your cells so your body can use it for energy. For several reasons, your cells can respond inappropriately to insulin. This means they can’t efficiently use the glucose for energy or for storage. As a result, glucose continues to build up in your blood. Your pancreas makes more insulin to try to overcome your increasing blood glucose levels. This is called hyperinsulinemia.
As long as your pancreas can make enough insulin to balance out your blood sugar levels, they’ll stay in a healthy range. If your cells become too resistant to insulin, it leads to elevated blood glucose levels (hyperglycemia).
Over time, hyperglycemia can lead to prediabetes and Type 2 diabetes.
The condition is also associated with:
Obesity
Cardiovascular disease
Metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease
Metabolic syndrome
Polycystic o***y syndrome (PCOS)