Abstract: Stroke is the disease which caused by many risk factors.The relationship between insulin resistance(IR) and young adult stroke is one of the focuses now in the neurological field.IR refered to the series of pathological and physiological changes,it happens when the response of the target tissue organ to insulin is depressing or losing.There are many ways of detection of IR,the insulin sensitivity index(ISI) is one of the most satisfied indexes to reflect the sensitivity to insulin.IR could cause a series of pathological and physiological changes,which caused hyperinsulinemia,hyperglycemia,hyperpiesia,blood-fat derangement,fibrinolytic system anomaly,blood vessel endothelium change,artherosclerosis,et al,maybe in ways of many metabolic risk factors.Atherosclerosis is the main etiopathogenisis factor in young adult stroke,as a conclusion,IR is also existed in young adult stroke.But,does IR exist in all types of young adult stroke? What is the mechanism? Is the level of IR related with the pathogenetic condition and prognosis? These questions are still not clear at present,and the study on the relationship between IR and young adult stroke is important to prevent young adult stroke.

Key words: insulin resistance, young adult stroke, review