Hormonal
Endogenous oestrogens protect premenopausal women from type 2 diabetes by promoting subcutaneous fat storage, enhancing insulin sensitivity, and preserving beta-cell function, whereas the loss of oestrogen during menopause eliminates this protection and increases diabetes risk.
For women, maintaining metabolic health is heavily influenced by oestrogen levels. Before menopause, your body naturally stores fat in a safer (subcutaneous) way and stays more insulin-sensitive than men. After menopause, this protection fades, increasing diabetes risk. To counter this, focus on preserving muscle mass and managing visceral fat through exercise and diet, as these become more critical once oestrogen levels drop. Discuss hormone therapy options with your doctor if you are at high risk.
During their reproductive life, women exhibit specificities in energy partitioning as compared with men, with carbohydrate and lipid utilisation as fuel sources that favour energy storage in subcutaneous adipose tissues and preserve them from visceral and ectopic fat accumulation. Insulin sensitivity is higher in women... although, these sex advantages all disappear when glucose tolerance deteriorates towards diabetes. Clinical and experimental observations evidence the protective actions of endogenous oestrogens... Early menopause and premature ovarian insufficiency are associated with an increased risk of type 2 diabetes as compared with premenopausal women
Why this rating
Based on a comprehensive review of clinical epidemiology, animal models, and mechanistic studies.
Source
Sex differences in metabolic regulation and diabetes susceptibility
Blandine Tramunt et al. · Diabetologia · 2019
DOI 10.1007/s00125-019-05040-3
More from this paper
- Men have a higher prevalence of type 2 diabetes than women, particularly in middle-aged populations, due to greater visceral adiposity, ectopic fat accumulation, and lower insulin sensitivity.Strong
- Oestrogen receptor alpha (ERα) activation mediates the protective effects of oestrogens on metabolic health by promoting insulin synthesis, beta-cell survival, and energy expenditure through brown adipose tissue beiging.Good
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