As blood glucose, the body's main source of energy, rises after a meal, the pancreas releases insulin to enable the glucose to enter the cells in your body and be utilized.  With insulin resistance the cells of the body do not respond properly to insulin and more insulin is necessary to enable the glucose to enter the cells and provide energy.  The pancreas secretes more and more insulin but as the condition worsens can't keep up and excess glucose accumulates in the body, leading to diabetes, a form of accelerated aging.  Many people with insulin resistance have elevated glucose and insulin levels, thus the importance of measuring your fasting insulin as well as glucose.  Specific genes, excess weight and lack of exercise contribute to causing insulin resistance. 

    Insulin resistance often progresses to the metabolic syndrome, which is defined as having three of the following: fasting blood glucose > 100mg/dL, blood pressure > 130/85, triglyceride > 150 mg/dL, HDL or good cholesterol <40 mg/dL for men and <50 mg/dL for women, and waist measurement > 40 inches for men and > 35 inches for women.  The metabolic syndrome also entails a pro-inflammatory state and elevated C Reactive Protein.  This condition is strongly associated with increased risk of diabetes type 2, heart disease, stroke, peripheral vascular disease etc. 

Prevention

    Insulin Resistance can be prevented by regular vigorous exercise, reducing caloric intake and high glycemic meals, and shedding excess fat, especially intra-abdominal or visceral fat that drains directly into the liver and is an active hormone gland.  Be sure to eat protein with each meal which stimulates glucagon, a hormone which reduces insulin.  

Telomeres   

     Telomeres are six nucleotide sequences at the end of each chromosome in the nuclei of your cells.  They are not genes, rather they protect the genetic information in the chromosome.  When a cell divides, the DNA in the chromosome is reproduced except for the very tip of the chromosome.  The telomeres sacrifice a small amount of the repeated sequences with each division and thus the telomere and the chromosome become slightly shorter with each division.  All goes well until the telomere becomes critically short and the telomere position effect occurs.  As the telomere becomes shorter, some genes are turned on and others off, so that an individual's genetic activity changes as we get older.  After about 50 to 70 divisions the telomeres become critically short and reach the Hayflick Limit and are no longer able to divide.  (telomere.net, telomeres.net)  As the telomere becomes critically short while approaching the Hayflick Limit, the cell becomes more susceptible to oxidative stress, and DNA repair mechanisms are reduced.  Eventually the cell becomes unable to divide and dies. 

      Infirmity and death are associated with reaching the Hayflick Limit.  University of Utah scientists writing in the Lancet studied 143 people over age 60, examining white blood cells.  Those in the top half for telomere length lived four to five years longer than those in the bottom half.  Those with shorter telomeres had three times greater risk of death from heart disease and nine times higher risk of death from infections.   Telomere shortening is associated with coronary artery disease.  Chronic stress accelerates aging by shortening telomeres.  Telomere shortening is believed to cause genomic instability which may trigger cancer.  A recent Japanese study of brain autopsies showed that the mean telomere length in people who died in their 80's of cancer were significantly shorter than persons who died of other causes.  This indicates that longer telomeres protect the genome from instability, a major cause of cancer, and are beneficial for longevity.  Insulin resistance is associated with shortened telomeres.  Longer telomeres are associated with exercise and high Vitamin D levels.

    Telomerase is an enzyme which can lengthen telomeres, thus rewinding our cellular clocks.  The telomerase gene is turned off early in development in nearly all the cells in your body and your cells cannot stop the telomere shortening.  Most cancer cells have telomerase and thus the cancer cells are immortal and divide indefinitely.  Laboratory studies have shown that telomerase can enable human cells to divide past the Hayflick limit without causing cancer.  UCLA scientists  used telomerase to prevent premature aging of the white blood cells that fight HIV/AIDS.