Insulin Resistance and Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus: Gender Differences and Similarities

Insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes are complex conditions which carry with them major health risk of increased morbidity and mortality. Insulin resistance is a genetic predisposition in which the normal actions of insulin are impaired. Only in the face of environmental stress of such factors as decreased physical activity or excess body weight, this genetic trait presents as an abnormal condition called the metabolic syndrome, or insulin resistance syndrome, or syndrome X. The insulin resistance syndrome or metabolic syndrome is a clustering of cardiovascular risk factors, namely, glucose intolerance, dyslipidemia (elevated plasma triglyceride [TG] concentration, decreased high-density lipoprotein cholesterol [HDL-C]), abdominal obesity, hypertension, and elevated coagulation factors. Prevalence differed little among men (24%) and women (23.4%). Women with insulin resistance are prone to develop gestational diabetes during pregnancy and both men and women who have insulin resistance can progress to type 2 diabetes primarily prompted by age, increased body weight, and decreased physical activity.