Insulin resistance and diabetes are closely related. But not everyone who is insulin resistant has diabetes, and not all people with diabetes are insulin resistant.

However, insulin resistance increases your chances of developing both prediabetes and type 2 diabetes, in particular.

This article explains the similarities and differences between insulin resistance and diabetes.

Though interconnected, they are quite different.

Both are tied to your body’s ability to make or use insulin, a key hormone that allows glucose to enter the body’s cells from the bloodstream to be used for energy. When someone has prediabetes or diabetes or is developing insulin resistance, their body cannot correctly create or use insulin as it naturally would.

If your body has to secrete more insulin than usual to manage blood sugar levels adequately, then you have insulin resistance.

Many people are insulin resistant but do not have diabetes.

Over time, insulin resistance can lead toTrusted Source prediabetes and, if not reversed, can lead to type 2 diabetes.

The development of prediabetes and type 2 diabetes occurs when the body is so insulin resistant that the pancreas can no longer make enough insulin to maintain usual blood sugar levels, and your cells are not responding to the insulin your body is secreting.

People with diabetes need to manage their blood sugar levels with diet, exercise, and sometimes prescription medications like metformin or insulin.

Insulin resistance does not lead to type 1 diabetes. In this autoimmune condition, the body’s immune system has destroyed the insulin-making beta cells of the pancreas, and thus no insulin is being made in the body. But people with T1D can become insulin resistant over time, which makes managing blood sugar levels more difficult.

The symptoms of insulin resistance can go undetected for years and are not as evident as those experienced when someone has developed diabetes.

You may be developing insulin resistance if you experience the following:

• higher-than-normalTrusted Source blood sugar levels (100 mg/dL or higher if you haven’t eaten in several hours
• high fasting triglyceridesTrusted Source (150 mg/dL or higher)
• high LDL cholesterolTrusted Source
• are sedentary
• obesity

However, some symptoms of insulin resistance may also include:

• males with a waistline of more than 40 inches and females more than 35 inches
• skin tags or patches of skin that are darker and thicker than usual (acanthosis nigricans)
• blood pressure of 130/80 or higher
• the 3-month average glucose test (A1C) between 5.7%-6.3%
• HDL cholesterol levels below 40 mg/dL in males or below 50 mg/dL in females