Insulin Resistance And IGT

Insulin Resistance And IGT

INSULIN RESISTANCE AND IGT

Diabetes isn't simple. Although every diabetic,

by definition, has difficulty with insulin supply and glucose metabolization, there are a

number of different ways to arrive there. You may encounter the terms insulin resistance

and impaired glucose tolerance. What are they?

Insulin resistance is the body's inability to

correctly utilize its normal (endogenous) insulin supply, even though that insulin is

present in sufficient volume. IGT, Impaired Glucose Tolerance, once called

"borderline diabetes," or "subclinical" diabetes, means your numbers

are still short of the diabetic threshold, but exhibit abnormalities in the processing of

blood sugar.

If a person has insulin resistance, the body is

incorrectly using the hormone. Let's track it: You're hungry. You eat. Blood sugar levels

rise...all strictly normal. Remembering insulin is necessary for that last stage of

digestion—moving the glucose from the blood into the cells—your body puts out

insulin, to do its job.

But, for whatever reason, the body does not fully

respond to the insulin, and the sugars stay in the blood. The pancreas senses the problem,

and puts out MORE insulin, trying mightily to bring down those blood sugars. It isn't

subtle about it, and, in the early stages, can over-produce, and down you can go into

hypoglycemia. This is IGT, Impaired Glucose Tolerance.

The overworked pancreas can, and often does,

"go on strike." Perhaps 50% of all individuals with IGT go on to full-blown

diabetes. In time, insulin output slows below insulin needs, and sugars rise into the

hyperglycemic range, where they stay, until medication (sulfonylureas, Metformin, Rezulin)

brings them back down. They have progressed to type 2 diabetes.

If you have not been diagnosed with diabetes, how

do you know if you are insulin resistant? You talk to your doctor, and you test. Your

doctor may suggest you get a blood glucose monitor, just as if you had been diagnosed

diabetic. It all comes down to the numbers.

In its early stages, IGT is hard to call. The

pancreas is in overdrive, and may even be "pulling its share," at least some of

the time. At this stage, you will be hyperinsulinemic, you have an insulin oversupply. As

glucose monitors test sugar, not insulin, we don't have a reliable way to detect this

stage.

Do you have a history of hypoglycemia? As this

condition progresses, you can have highs and lows, of less intensity than those

experienced by a "full" diabetic, but inconvenient and unpleasant. Again, TEST!

As IGT, like type II, is often connected with "lipid abnormalities," abnormal

levels of cholesterol, with risk of high blood pressure and heart disease, can follow in

its wake. Talk to your doctor.

What to do about it? Insulin resistance is

connected with obesity. Though fat does not necessarily cause IGT, it increases its

severity, and weight loss decreases same. Exercise burns blood glucose, and a regular

fitness program is as beneficial to persons with IGT as it is to those with

"full" diabetes. So, whether you're looking to prevent or treat IGT, diet and

exercise should be at the top of your list.