Insulin induced aging – the role of insulin in developing obesity-related aging disorders

Insulin is an essential pancreatic hormone necessary for our corpuscular health; However, fasting hyperinsulinemia (a high level of fasting insulin) can accelerate genetic aging and may contribute to the development of chronic degenerative disease, which is a common issue in most Westernized societies, especially in the United States of America.[1]

How much sugar is in the body?

On average, the body of an adult has about a gallon of blood (approximately 4.5 to 5.5 liters), in this gallon of blood a healthy person normally has about 1 teaspoon of fasting blood sugar. However, for a diabetic person who has a fasting blood sugar level of 126 mg/dl, the amount of sugar in his body is about 1 ¼ teaspoons.[1]

What is a normal fasting blood sugar level?

For healthy individuals, normal fasting blood sugar levels are between 72 and 99 mg/dL (4.0 and 5.4 mmol/L).

Homeostasis is maintained by Insulin and glucagon hormones that help regulate the blood sugar levels in the body; However, diets high in sugar (eating excessive amounts of sugar, especially fructose and sucrose), increase the blood glucose concentration and may lead to insulin functional impairment (prediabetes) in individuals with chronic hyperglycemia. Being a prediabetic you are more likely to develop various types of diabetes. Individuals with chronic hyperglycemia are at high risk of going into hyperglycemic coma, a life threatening situation requiring prompt treatment.

Insulin is produced by the beta cells in pancreatic islets of Langerhans to regulate the blood glucose levels. Eating processed junk foods high in sugar will cause your blood sugar levels to rise quickly, this rise in blood sugar levels stimulate the pancreas to release insulin into the bloodstream in order to compensate this rise in blood glucose levels. Insulin secreted into the blood helps balance out blood sugar levels and keeps them in a normal range.

Insulin, stimulates the liver to convert more glucose into glycogen in a process called glycogenesis, which is then deposited in fat depots (visceral fat, VAT), adipose tissue (Epicardial adipose tissue, EAT), and subcutaneous adipose tissues (SAT), which store more than 80% of the total body fat.[1]

To understand the role of insulin in aging, we must understand that the more carbohydrates we eat, the more sugar is absorbed into blood, which is then deposited in fat tissue, and the higher your insulin level will be, the fatter you will become. Obesity or the accumulation of excess fat in the body plays an important role in the development of various age-related diseases. Moreover, a telomere is an essential region of repetitive nucleotide sequences of chromosomes, these telomeres get shorter each time a cell divides, shorter telomeres are strongly associated with increased accumulation of body fat. Attrition of telomere length stimulates obesity, which in turn accelerates the aging process and affects how our cells age.[1]

Can you get addicted to insulin and what is meant by the term insulin resistance?

If left untreated, chronic hyperglycemia can lead to insulin resistance, a pathological condition in which target cells fail to respond to insulin, insulin resistance stimulates the production and release of additional amounts of insulin, resulting in high amounts of insulin in your bloodstream. Overtime the insulin resistant body will need more and more insulin to get the job done, just like drugs the initial dose will increase overtime, and the minimal satisfactory dosage will be insufficient overtime; Moreover, insulin resistant individuals are at increased risk for developing insulin dependent diabetes.

What is the classic triad of diabetic symptoms and what are the early signs and symptoms of diabetic symptoms?

The classic triad of symptoms of diabetes includes:

1. Polydipsia (increased thirst)
2. Polyphagia (increased appetite and ingestion)
3. Polyuria (excessive production of urine, and urinating more than 2.6 liters per day in adults)
   

What are the risk factors for type 2 diabetes?

High cholesterol, hypertension (high blood pressure), and obesity (being overweight) are three major risk factors for developing diabetes type two, Moreover, they are the most common causes of abnormal insulin levels

What makes the body insulin resistant?

Fructose, a natural sugar found in fruit, is the main reason for insulin resistance, as excessive consumption of fructose (norm less than 16 grams/day), may contribute to insulin receptor blockade. This in turn impairs the binding of insulin to insulin receptors, thus making the body insulin resistant. This increases your chances of developing obesity and obesity-related aging disorders.[1]

If you are insulin resistant, it is highly advisable to reverse insulin resistance and to control your insulin levels before planning to lose weight in order to get protected from obesity-related aging disorders

How does cortisol lead to weight gain and why cortisol can make you hungry?

Your body releases cortisol and glucagon in response to hypoglycemia (when you have a calorie deficit), the elevated stress hormone, cortisol stimulates appetite and increases food cravings for high-carb, high-fat foods by modulating appetite-related hormones (leptin, ghrelin, and insulin). Moreover, cortisol promotes fat deposition and central adiposity

What is the role of ghrelin in regulating food intake?

Normally, Ghrelin (the hunger hormone) is produced by the endocrine cells in the gastric mucosa when the stomach is empty. The hunger hormone travels through the bloodstream to the hypothalamus where it stimulates neurons to signal hunger, and for this reason, hypoglycemia can cause you to feel exceptionally hungry; however, in people with uncontrolled diabetes, blood sugar level often swings quickly from high to low, this results in hyperphagia and obesity

Ghrelin promotes the growth of new brain cells and protects them from the effects of aging. Moreover, it stimulates the release of growth hormone, a hormone involved in catabolism of fat mass

Insulin Fasting test is an economic test used to check fasting insulin levels (norm between 3 and 5), and is helpful in the diagnosis of insulin resistant type II diabetes.

The fasting blood glucose test is the test of choice commonly used to diagnose diabetes. If your fasting glucose level is equal to or slightly greater than 100 mg/dL in two separate tests, then an initial diagnosis of insulin resistance is made; however, if your fasting glucose level is between 100 and 130 mg/dL in two separate tests, then an initial diagnosis of prediabetes is made.

The oral glucose tolerance test is also available to check your fasting glucose; however, you can have hyperinsulinemia (high insulin levels) despite having low fasting glucose levels. If you have hyperinsulinemia and fasting hypoglycemia, then you are five times more likely to have prediabetes, and if this your case, steps to improve your insulin sensitivity must be taken. If you’re a prediabetic, you may be able to prevent type 2 diabetes by reducing fructose consumption.[1]

All patients with metabolic syndrome, prediabetes, or diabetes, should limit or avoid intake of sugar-sweetened beverages. Prediabetic patients should reduce daily intake of sugar to less than 100 calories (6 teaspoons); However, the human body is made up of cells that need energy and glucose to work properly because glucose simply delivers a faster supply of energy to cells. Without glucose, you may develop hypothermia because of impairment of physiologic thermoregulatory mechanisms. This makes you sensitive to heat. Hypothermia can quickly become an emergency, especially in patients with severe hypoglycemia.[1]

Without fast-acting glucagon injections, severe hypoglycemia (hypothermia) may lead to death within an hour.

Chronic hyperglycemia can be truly toxic, as it imposes damage on a number of cell types often leading to obesity-related aging disorders. Moreover, Chronic hyperglycemia is strongly correlated with long-term diabetic complications.

 

References

1. medcoi.science

 

Verified by: Dr.Diab (July 1, 2018)

Citation: Dr.Diab. (July 1, 2018). Insulin induced aging – the role of insulin in developing obesity-related aging disorders. Medcoi Journal of Medicine, 36(2). urn:medcoi:article2972.