Caporaso NE, Jones RR, Stolzenberg-Solomon RZ, et al. - Given the fundamental value of insulin in two epidemic conditions (obesity and Type 2 diabetes) in the United States and globally, researchers examined how insulin is related to common health-related endpoints in a large population-based sample. From 8 successive 2-year data waves (1999-2014) of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, they included adult participants comprising 9,224 normal individuals, 7,699 prediabetic and 3,413 diabetic individuals. The Homeostatic Model for Insulin Resistance (HOMA-IR) was examined in 20336 participants in relation to demographic, anthropometric and clinical data. Findings revealed generally a strong, monotonic, and highly significant association of HOMA-IR with adjusted outcomes in normal individuals. In the normal subset, the OR and 95% CI for a quartile change in HOMA-IR for obesity (BMI > 30) was 3.62, and for the highest quintile for the triglyceride/HDL the ratio was 2.00 (1.77-2.26), for GGT it was 1.40 (1.24-1.58), and for white blood count it was 1.28 (1.16-1.40). Poorer general health and adverse changes across a wide range of markers in correlation to HOMA-IR levels.