Type 2 diabetes is often known as late onset diabetes, usually occurring and detected in middle-aged adults. In this type of diabetes, the body cells do not respond to insulin at all. This may be due to:

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• The desensitization of the insulin receptors on target cells- This means that even if insulin goes and binds to the receptors, no response will be initiated and hence glucose channels on target cells would not open. This desensitization may be caused due to overstimulation on insulin receptors. This means that when too much insulin is released in the body, in response to a rapid spike in the blood sugar levels, the overstimulation may cause the receptors to become unresponsive.

• A deficiency of insulin receptors or glucose transporters on target cells- The fewer the number of insulin receptors, the slower the rate of binding of insulin to the receptors and hence, the rate of opening of glucose channels on target cells would also lower, causing glucose uptake and conversion to slow too. If there is a deficiency in the glucose channels, then even if insulin binds to the receptors at a normal rate, uptake will still be slow as the response would be carried out by fewer number of channels.

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The broad causes of this type of diabetes are usually diets that are rich in sugar and fat, lack of exercise and obesity. Often, genetic factors also play a role in impacting the functioning of insulin.