Insulin is a hormone that allows glucose to enter the cell.

Insulin Resistance

• Insulin Resistance: When insulin receptors (IR) do not tell the cell that insulin is present
  • Causing:
    • Less glucose to enter the cell so the cell cannot produce the ATP it needs
    • More glucose to stay in the blood stream (hyperglycemia) [7]
  • Hyperglycemia:
    • Concentration of Glucose increases, leading to the decreased concentration of Nitric Oxide
    • Nitric Oxide is a vasodilator so when it decreases in concentration blood vessel’s area decreases leading to less oxygen to get delivered to the body [8]
    • Leads to [7]:
      • Permanent damage of the heart
      • Permanent damage of the nervous system
      • Permanent damage of the kidneys

Pancreatic Response to Hyperglycemia:

• The pancreas regulates blood glucose by releasing insulin into the bloodstream [4], so when glucose is high it releases more insulin to try to lower it.
  • When cells are insulin resistance, insulin has less of an affect so the pancreas is releasing insulin but it is not enough
  • The pancreas continues to produce more insulin until the apoptosis of pancreatic cells [9], making the pancreas unable to regulate the glucose in the blood efficiently