It’s my understanding that it’s not so much the muscle cells “ignore” insulin, it’s that all the cells sort of forget how to use insulin to burn glucose. The cells cry out their hunger, and the body goes scrounging for FOOD. With the extra glucose floating around, the pancreas pumps out insulin. Then you have extra glucose, extra insulin, and the body gets confused and starts laying in a supply of fat.
Muscle cells can utilize the glucose when they are used. That is why exercise (that nasty word!) is so important for Type 2 Diabetics. The extra glucose is burned, and the aftermath reduces the insulin resistance for a while.
It’s a very vicious cycle. And the excess glucose and excess insulin are caustic to vital tissues.
I would suggest that there is in fact a cure for type I diabetes currently available, which is pancreatic transplant. However, the risks of the procedure, particularly the need for lifelong immunosuppression, often outweigh the benefits, so it is usually done only when the patient needs a kidney transplant anyway. However, with regard to their diabetes, post-transplant patients make and use insulin appropriately and are usually free of dietary restrictions and exogenous insulin.
I’ve seen ads by chiropractors (!) calling themselves “doctors” followed by “DC” to keep within the law offering to “reverse” type 2 (SIC) diabetes. They invite sufferers to “gourmet” meals to hear them talk about secrets “hidden from” patients.
Can type 2 diabetes be reversed? The chiros have convinced some newspapers and radio stations that their ads are legal (and sufficiently truthful for a medical ad)