InsulinInsulin hormone, Insulin injectionInsulin is the hormone made by the pancreas that moves glucose out of the blood and into cells. As a medicine it replaces or supplements what the body cannot produce, and it is given by injection because stomach acid would destroy it.
Insulin resistance
When the body's cells stop responding properly to insulin, so the pancreas must make more and more of it to keep blood sugar normal.
is the key that lets into cells. In insulin resistance the lock has grown stiff: the key still fits, but it takes far more turning.
For years the pancreas compensates by producing extra insulin and blood sugar stays normal. Type 2 diabetes begins when it can no longer keep up.
What drives it
- Weight carried around the abdomen in particular
- Physical inactivity
- Family history — it runs strongly in South Asian families
- Sleep deprivation and untreated sleep apnoea
Related terms
- PrediabetesBorderline diabetes, Impaired glucose toleranceBlood sugar that is higher than normal but not yet high enough to be called diabetes. It usually causes no symptoms at all, and it can often be reversed.
- Metabolic syndromeSyndrome X, Insulin resistance syndromeA cluster of findings — abdominal weight, high blood pressure, high blood sugar and abnormal cholesterol — that together sharply raise the risk of diabetes and heart disease.
- BMIBody mass index, Quetelet indexBody mass index is weight in kilograms divided by height in metres squared, used as a rough screen for whether a person carries too much or too little weight for their frame. South Asians face weight-related risk at a lower BMI than the standard chart assumes.