Hyperinsulinemia and Insulin Resistance: The World’s Biggest Killers?

When we think about the world’s biggest killer, different things come to mind. Guns? Or possibly heart disease, cancer, or maybe even dementia? Well, those three chronic diseases are all good bets. But what if they are just the result of something else, and they all have a common cause?

In that case, that common cause could be the world’s biggest killer – and it goes by the name of hyperinsulinemia. This article takes a look at the rapidly growing problem of hyperinsulinemia and insulin resistance.

What is Insulin Resistance?

Insulin resistance is a term to describe when our body develops a resistance to the effects of the hormone insulin. As a result, we experience increasing blood sugar levels and higher levels of circulating insulin. What is Hyperinsulinemia? Hyperinsulinemia refers to the situation where we have a constant elevation of insulin levels.

The literal definition is simply an excess amount of insulin in the blood. Insulin resistance is the usual cause of hyperinsulinemia, and the resulting high insulin levels can be very damaging to our body.

Is Hyperinsulinemia Type 2 Diabetes?

There is a strong connection between hyperinsulinemia and type 2 diabetes, but they are not the same thing. Type 2 diabetes occurs when the pancreas fails to produce enough insulin to maintain normal blood sugar levels. However, hyperinsulinemia refers to when the body is producing too much insulin to keep high blood sugar levels in check.

Without adequate intervention, chronic hyperinsulinemia can lead to type 2 diabetes.  But it must be remembered: hyperinsulinemia is associated with metabolic syndrome, and it’s harmful independently of diabetes.

Key Point: Insulin resistance leads to hyperinsulinemia – excess amounts of circulating insulin in the body. What Causes High Insulin Levels? As shown above, insulin resistance leads to higher blood sugar levels. And the result of this is that the pancreas releases excessive levels of insulin to try and compensate.

But what causes insulin resistance?

Risk Factors

In the first place, there are some general risk factors/symptoms for insulin resistance which include the following.

Age: insulin resistance is usually diagnosed in those aged over 40
Obesity (especially relating to abdominal fat)

Hypertension
Prediabetes
Genetics: a family history increases risk
A lack of physical activity
Sedentary lifestyle
Low HDL and high triglyceride levels

More Importantly: The Cause of the Risk Factors

Knowing the risk factors for a health condition isn’t actionable if we aren’t aware of the cause of those risk factors. Prediabetes and obesity certainly don’t just appear overnight; they have a common cause. And that cause is often diet.

More on this article from diet expert Michael Joseph here:
http://nutritionadvance.com/hyperinsulinemia-insulin-resistance/

Eddie

Interesting post

Both my kids have hyperinsulinemia, youngest diagnosed at 2 years old, eldest was about 12 I think, they both take metformin, I used to have to go all the way to great ormond street to get her tablets when she ran out because normal chemists wouldn't dispense met to a 2 yr old grrrr

My youngest because of this has always eaten a fantastically healthy diet, she also takes thyroxine for her thyroid, when other kids were eating crisps in the shopping trolley she had a carrot stick, breaks your heart when folks comment on us letting our kid get fat... don't get me started

Actually I think some of that is back to front, the IR causes the hyperinsulinemia which causes the obesity and the dyslipidemia. Certainly part of it is genetic, IR would have been a survival advantage in days of famine, and a LOT of the population has the genes. Mostly though what switches them on is high carbs and probably also Omega 6 oils in excess, ie. dieticians' favourites.

Apart from that. Michael Joseph has a lot of good stuff.

Andy, how heartbreaking! Do you know anything about your family history? I only found out relatively recently about some important stuff from mine - a string of diabetics and people, mostly males, who died young from CVD, and an above average number of children who died before or shortly after birth, like my siblings. It's almost like one of the MODY diabetes but the distribution is wrong to be monogenic. Females in the same family line mostly lived to advanced ages. Other people I know with a similar family history have it principally in females, or equally divided between genders.

Never really done the family tree thing, my dad died of a heart attack at 67, he had type 2, he tested but the doctor said as long as his numbers stay below 11 that's fine grrr, my mums mum had type 2, her sister type 1, I believe my dad had some other diabetics in his family but he was abandoned by his mum at 3 years old so don't know that side of the family at all really, he used to say all his family lived to ripe old age so he was going to lol oh well, I know even less about the wife's side, lots and lots of Alzheimer's throughout, my mums mum and both sisters all had it, the last living sister is 90 and has it

As far as I know I'm the first diabetic in my family, mother was diagnosed four years after me at the age of 93 I think that was more of an ageing process

Andy12345 wrote:Interesting post

Both my kids have hyperinsulinemia, youngest diagnosed at 2 years old, eldest was about 12 I think, they both take metformin, I used to have to go all the way to great ormond street to get her tablets when she ran out because normal chemists wouldn't dispense met to a 2 yr old grrrr

My youngest because of this has always eaten a fantastically healthy diet, she also takes thyroxine for her thyroid, when other kids were eating crisps in the shopping trolley she had a carrot stick, breaks your heart when folks comment on us letting our kid get fat... don't get me started

"breaks your heart when folks comment on us letting our kid get fat"

For this the mainstream media must take the Lions share of the blame. Hardly a day goes by without them implying the heavily overweight are nailed to their sofas eating donuts all day. The calories in calories out theory most healthcare pros talk of, and especially dietitians, is complete baloney, especially for the countless millions who have a broken metabolism. The fact is so many have not got a clue about even the basics. Even the most obvious escapes the dullards. Talk to any type one diabetic about just before or at diagnosis and they all state one glaring fact, huge weight-loss for almost all. We know type ones produce little if any insulin. A heavily over-weight type two at diagnosis, in fact a none diabetic over-weight person can also have up to three times the blood insulin levels of a non diabetic. I doesn't need the brains of Einstein to appreciate insulin is the key to almost all peoples weight situation.

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