Skip to main content

The Health Consequences of Insulin Resistance

The Health Consequences of Insulin Resistance

Your endocrine system performs an amazing job: Glands like your pituitary, pancreas, and thyroid are part of a highly sophisticated messaging system that delivers a wide range of hormones your body needs to function. Hormones regulate everything from your sleep and appetite to your fertility and mood.

Insulin is the critical hormone produced by your pancreas that controls your blood sugar. When your body’s response to insulin goes awry, the condition of insulin resistance develops. Unfortunately, multiple negative health condition offshoots can emerge as a result of insulin resistance. 

Dr. Mandeep Walia-Bhatia  is dedicated to helping patients with insulin resistance — it’s one of many health conditions they have expertise in addressing. Gain Wellness Center offers a range of services and treatments for patients, and our approach is to assess your overall health in an in-depth way, so we can target treating the specific symptom with which you’re struggling. 

Insulin resistance defined

Simply, insulin resistance is when your body’s response to insulin is impaired. This leads to a host of health problems that we’ll detail shortly, but the first problem is elevated levels of glucose in your blood. Insulin resistance can go for a long time unchecked too, because it has no symptoms unless you get a blood test. 

You can develop insulin resistance and live with it for a brief time, or it can become a chronic problem. When chronic, the problem leads to prediabetes and type 2 diabetes. Prediabetes affects some 96 million Americans, and over 80% of them are unaware that they have it.

Likewise, over 37 million Americans are living with type 2 diabetes, and 90-95% of them have type 2 diabetes. 

The health perils of insulin resistance

Increased insulin production is an outcome of insulin resistance, 

Aside from prediabetes and diabetes, which are serious enough, insulin resistance leads to hyperinsulinemia, or increased insulin production. This causes multiple health conditions such as:

Metabolic syndrome is a group of conditions that raise your risk for stroke, heart disease, and type 2 diabetes. 

All in all, insulin resistance isn’t associated with anything favorable. Causes of the condition include being overweight or obese (with excess fat collecting around your waist), an unhealthy diet, and being sedentary, but certain medications and hormonal conditions can cause it as well. 

How do I know if I have insulin resistance?

The first signs are unpleasant symptoms, including excessive hunger, thirst, and urination, as well as skin and vaginal infections. You can also notice that cuts to your skin heal more slowly than normal. Headaches and blurred vision may also develop. 

If you come to Gain Wellness Center with these types of symptoms, we take a detailed medical history, ask you about your family’s health history, and thoroughly evaluate you. We also analyze your blood and saliva samples. 

We also perform a complete wellness exam, which is an extensive assessment of both your physical and mental health — because each affects the other — so we can get to the bottom of your insulin resistance. 

The evaluation examines your gut health, stress levels, lifestyle habits such as diet and exercise, and emotional health, and we zero in particularly on any hormonal imbalances. We emphasize finding the origin of your condition, not simply treating isolated symptoms. This is the basis of functional medicine.

WIth a hormonal problem like insulin resistance, we:

We’re unique in the care we offer because we become your partners in health as opposed to caregivers who provide essentially disconnected treatment. 

You can be assured that the Gain Wellness Center team has your best interests — and optimal health — in mind as we treat you with a highly personalized approach.

Call our office to schedule an appointment with us, or reach out online through our website. We look forward to bringing you to a state of enhanced health and vitality. 

Author
Dr. Mandeep Walia-Bhatia, DC, AFMCP Dr. Mandeep Walia-Bhatia, DC, AFMCP, is the founder of Gain Wellness Center in San Diego, California. At the wellness center, one of Dr. Walia's, greatest goals, as a health care provider, is to provide her practice members with alternative, but healthy and safe choices that will enhance their health and well-being. She likes to motivate and educate her practice members to take charge of their health by providing them with evidence-based information so that they can make informed decisions regarding their own personal health and take control of their health. Dr. Walia was born in India and raised in Canada before moving to San Diego. She attended McMaster University in Hamilton, Canada for her Master of Science degree with specialties in Biology and Physiology. She had various publications in research articles during her time at McMaster University funded by the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada. She has three kids and enjoys cooking, hiking and going to the beach with her family.

You Might Also Enjoy...

Natural Ways to Balance Your Hormones

Your endocrine system is a sophisticated messaging system. It ensures your hormones keep your body functioning well. If your hormones become dysregulated, however, myriad symptoms and health problems can occur, but there are effective treatments.
Surprising Ways You’re Destroying Your Gut Microbiome

Surprising Ways You’re Destroying Your Gut Microbiome

You might think “the microbiome” sounds like an exotic foreign land, and in a way, it is. This microorganism microcosm is something researchers are learning more about every day, and it greatly impacts our health. Learn how to take care of it here.

5 Reasons to Go Drug-Free This Year

Are you concerned about your drug use, which includes everything from socially acceptable alcohol to prescription and illicit drugs? If so, transform your health and life by committing to a sober 2024. Learn about the benefits of sobriety here.

Why Does My Back Hurt After Sitting for a While?

Do you work at a desk all day, like so many, in an office or at home? This wreaks havoc on your back, causing pain and other issues. Learn how to redesign your work space for better comfort and other ways you can support your back health.
5 Ways to Manage Holiday-Related Stress

5 Ways to Manage Holiday-Related Stress

Does the thought of countless holiday parties, obligations, and endless shopping, cooking, and decorating fill your heart with dread — and your life with stress? It shouldn’t! Learn how to tame stress, so you can look forward to the holidays again.
How to Eat Your Way to a Healthier Gut

How to Eat Your Way to a Healthier Gut

Digestive conditions can be debilitating and take a lot of joy out of life. Symptoms like gas, bloating, diarrhea, and constipation can be exacerbated by poor nutrition. Learn how to eat well to boost your gut health, here.