AIIMS neurologist shares 2 indicators of insulin resistance: ‘Dark marks on neck, if waist size is more than…’

AIIMS neurologist Dr Priyanka Sehrawat shares two indicators for insulin resistance, including Acanthosis Nigricans and metabolic syndrome.

How can you know if your body is insulin-resistant or not? In an Instagram post shared on September 2, Dr Priyanka Sehrawat, general physician and neurologist, MD Medicine and DM Neurology (AIIMS Delhi), MBBS (Lady Harding Medical College, Delhi), revealed the 2 indicators of insulin resistance that you can look out for in your body.

What is insulin resistance?

Let's first understand what insulin resistance is. According to the neurologist, this means that the cells in our body are not responding to insulin; they are resisting insulin.

She explained, “The job of insulin is to help glucose from the blood enter the body's cells. It helps in glucose metabolism. When this work is not done, the glucose in the blood is not able to enter the cells. First, the cells are not getting energy. And second, your blood glucose level is increasing. Both things are going wrong.”

How can insulin resistance be detected?

Next, the AIIMS expert shared the 2 important indicators that can help you detect insulin resistance:

• Acanthosis Nigricans

The first indicator is Acanthosis Nigricans. What does it mean? The neurologist explained, “If you have seen dark marks, stripy marks, on the back of your neck, on the nape of the neck. This is what we call Acanthosis Nigricans. It is a very strong predictor of insulin resistance.”

• Metabolic Syndrome

Explaining what metabolic syndrome is, the neurologist stated that it has five components. She warned, “If you have any three of these, it means your risk of heart attack, stroke, and poor heart health increases.” The five components of metabolic syndrome are:

1. High blood pressure
2. High blood sugar
3. Triglycerides greater than 150, which come in your lipid profile
4. HDL (which is considered a good cholesterol) is less than 40 in males and less than 50 in females
5. Abdominal obesity or belly fat, if it is more than 40 inches waist circumference in males and more than 35 inches waist circumference in females, denotes or indicates insulin resistance.

What is the solution?

The neurologist stated that the best solution to decrease insulin resistance or increase insulin sensitivity is to walk or do aerobic exercises as much as you can.

“Exercise is something, aerobics is something that can prevent or decrease that insulin resistance very rapidly, very fast, by reducing all the risk factors of insulin resistance. So, if you are not doing aerobics, please start doing that. If you have these markers in yourself, please consult a general physician or an endocrinologist,” she stressed.

Note to readers: This article is for informational purposes only and not a substitute for professional medical advice. Always seek the advice of your doctor with any questions about a medical condition.