HYPERINSULINEMIA

(Hi'-per-in-sool-in-ee-me-ah)

(HIGH INSULIN LEVELS)

WHAT IS INSULIN?

Insulin is a substance, a hormone made by the pancreas, an organ located behind the stomach in the belly. In a simplified sense, insulin is responsible for two major functions: disposing of food and maintaining normal blood sugar levels.

DISPOSITION OF FOOD

After eating, Insulin normally is secreted [sent into the bloodstream] in proportion to the amount of food eaten. For example, if we have a small meal, a small amount of insulin is released; a big meal causes a large amount of insulin to be secreted. This is done so that insulin can perform one of its jobs, that of telling the food where to go depending on our needs at the time. It could direct the food to the liver to be made into building blocks for cells, to brain or muscle cells for energy, or to fat cells for storage. What is important to remember is that the amount of insulin made is related to the amount of food eaten.

REGULATION OF BLOOD SUGAR

During the rest of the day, when we are not eating, insulin is also in charge of its second job: that of keeping our blood sugar normal by increasing and decreasing its own production. This causes us to have at least a little insulin floating around our bloodstream all the time.

EFFECTS OF WEIGHT

In both insulin's role of food-director, and blood sugar regulator, being overweight will make insulin less effective. Therefore, more insulin has to be made to do the same job, leading to higher insulin levels around the clock. The heavier the person gets, the less effective the insulin is. The less effective insulin is, the more insulin needs to be made and released, in order to control the blood sugar levels. In a very crude sense - this is like a person addicted to drugs needing more and more of the drug to get the same "high" - because the body "gets used to" the drug; in this case the weight increase causes the body to "get used to" insulin, causing a need for more and more insulin to get the same job done.

(It Should be said that while being overweight is not the only cause of insulin resistance, and therefore hyperinsulinemia - it is by far the most prevalent, or popular one. Some people who are not overweight at all, have a genetic, or inherited form of severe insulin resistance - and these people can be quite thin. In these people, weight loss does not improve the situation - and in fact is the wrong thing to try to do. For these people, medication to improve the action of insulin is the way to treat. Fortunately, severe, genetic insulin resistance is quite unusual.)

To continue, this cycle of insulin resistance can lead to a need for insulin levels tens to hundreds to sometimes thousands of times greater than the normal levels of insulin, in the most severely overweight. These tremendously increased insulin levels do keep the blood sugar normal, but at a price. . .

EFFECTS OF HYPERINSULINEMIA

One might say: "Look - even though my insulin levels are high [because of my weight], its getting the job done, and I feel OK - so what's the big deal?"

The big deal is that recent medical research has shown that severely elevated insulin levels cause salt and water retention, as well as causing blood vessels to constrict (squeeze shut) thereby leading to swelling and high blood pressure.

Over a long period of time, hyperinsulinemia (high insulin levels) can worsen cholesterol levels, causing high cholesterol and atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries) as well. The combination of high cholesterol build-up and high blood pressure can then lead to an increase in the probability of suffering from strokes, heart attacks, heart failure, and kidney disease - ALL CAUSED OR AT LEAST CONTRIBUTED TO BY NOTHING MORE THAN HIGH INSULIN LEVELS CAUSED (MAINLY) BY BEING OVERWEIGHT!

In women, insulin can also stimulate the ovary. Insulin is NOT normally involved in stimulating the ovary. It ONLY stimulates the ovary when the insulin is present in very high levels (hyperinsulinemia) and this stimulation is almost always ABNORMAL. This abnormal type of stimulation of the ovaries by high insulin levels can cause any or all of: dysfunction of the ovarian cycle, leading to irregular or absent periods and difficulty conceiving when you want to; abnormal stimulation of the ovary to produce more male type hormone (Testosterone) than female type hormone (Estrogen) which can further impair the menstrual cycle, and cause significant and sometimes severe facial and body hair growth, head baldness, acne, and even change in voice.

It should be remembered that all of the above is due to the increased insulin levels that are present - usually due to obesity; we haven't said a thing yet about Diabetes!

ROLLS-ROYCES AND VOLKSWAGENS

No two pancreases, like no two cars, are exactly alike. If you drive a Rolls-Royce at 120 miles per hour, it will handle it like a charm and not make a whimper - the quality of the engine and the car make it able to withstand a great amount of driving stress before "burning out". If you do that with a Volkswagen, it will strain, sputter, overheat, and eventually burn out its engine - no offense to Volkswagen - simply because it is not made to withstand the same driving stress as other cars.

Unfortunately there are "Rolls-Royce" as well as "Volkswagen" pancreases. If your family history is such that you inherited a Rolls-Royce pancreas, you will probably have the ability to produce an unending supply of insulin; that is to say -  no matter how heavy you become, your blood sugar will always be controlled - but it will be controlled, only at the expense of massively elevated insulin levels. As described above, this does not mean that there is no risk involved!

RISK OF DIABETES

What if you inherited a Volkswagen for a pancreas? When your body weight is within reasonable limits, your pancreas can "cruise" at 50 miles per hour, easily making enough insulin for your needs. As you become heavier, you require more and more insulin: your "Volkswagen" has to speed up more and more.

Eventually, your Volkswagen pancreas is going at 120 miles per hour and starts to burn out at the strain of having to produce so much insulin to keep your blood sugar normal. At that time your insulin levels start to fall and you blood sugar starts to rise. This is when DIABETES starts. You then are exposed not only to the risks of hyperinsulinemia, but multiplied by the risks of Diabetes.

If you have a family history of diabetes starting in old age or adult life, or if your relatives were heavy and had diabetes, or if you or a relative had "pregnancy diabetes" (Gestational Diabetes) you probably have a risk of having a "volkswagen" for a pancreas.

WHAT CAN BE DONE?

Unfortunately, there is no easy, exact, inexpensive way to predict who will have a volkswagen pancreas, or which volkswagen pancreas will develop diabetes, except to say that those people who are overweight with volkswagen pancreases have a much higher chance of developing diabetes unless they lose weight, which brings their insulin needs down to a level that the volkswagen pancreas can "cruise" at.

Even people with Rolls-Royce pancreases can prevent the problems associated with just the high levels of insulin described above, by also losing weight and decreasing their insulin levels. There are medications that, having previously been used to treat patients with Diabetes, are now being used to treat hyperinsulinemia - sometimes with great effectiveness.

Even in these cases, however, unless you are one of the very unlucky ones who have severe insulin resistance inherited from your parents and are thin, diet therapy (along with potential medication use) are key parts of controlling hyperinsulinemia.

Copyright © 1998-2002 CompanyLongName all rights reserved

Last modified: December 07, 2006

Send mail to sugardoc@mindspring.com with questions or comments about this web site.

go to ETC home