Fasting insulin starts creeping up during insulin resistance. This test may be elevated when others show "normal". It is a good indicator to follow a metabolic type diet or The Zone.

Really high levels can indicate a islet tumor, but those are pretty rare. You'd be getting really low blood sugar attacks as a warning then.

As far as men go, I think testosterone blocks "hearing" LOL.

In teens it seems to block logic too! We have some teen boys, just moved into our neighborhood. We are hilly and have blind curves, blocking safe driving the narrow streets. For many years most of us have asked the city for "ONE way changes to the traffic flow" because of this. Well, these new kids, wear NO protective clothing or helmets, and skate board all over the dangerous street. They cannot see oncoming traffic and I almost hit one of them 2 wks ago, in fact (around a blind curve). They also go racing thru stop signs, which are there to slow the traffic, because of the poor visibility. Some of the other neighbors complained to the police and were rewarded by having their homes paintballed in retaliation, and 2 houses had their screens cut too! (we were spared, because we didn't complain). The other day 3 of these kids were leaping off the wall that holds the hill back, and smashing onto the pavement. No protective gear--- and we haven't seen them since! I am sure this is an example of testosterone poisoning! sigh. (oh, and they threw away their cans of Arizona Iced Tea in my new garden at the corner too!
At the rate they are going, they won't be in the gene pool much longer!

(apologies to our male posters.) Every once in a while we drive by the train tracks, or a big hill and hubby (who is so unmacho) regales me with the stuff he did on the train tracks in his day! So even he did this type of stuff! GADS.