Diabetes and Insulin Tests
The Tests (6)
CGM
A small sensor worn on the skin that reads tissue glucose every few minutes, showing real-time patterns; readings lag fingerstick values slightly.
Read the deep dive →Hemoglobin A1C
The percentage of red-cell hemoglobin with glucose attached, reflecting average blood sugar over two to three months; some anemias can skew it.
Read the deep dive →Fasting Insulin
Measures blood insulin after an overnight fast; rising levels can reveal insulin resistance years before blood sugar or A1C becomes abnormal.
Read the deep dive →C Peptide
A blood fragment released one-for-one with insulin, showing how much insulin the body still makes and helping tell type 1 from type 2 diabetes.
Read the deep dive →HOMA IR
Not a separate lab draw but a score calculated from fasting insulin and glucose to estimate insulin resistance; insulin assays vary between labs.
Read the deep dive →Fructosamine
Estimates average blood sugar over the past two to three weeks from sugar-coated blood proteins, useful when A1C is unreliable or treatment just changed.
Read the deep dive →Glucose control over months, and the insulin signal underneath it. Fasting insulin and homeostatic model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) reveal the problem years before glucose moves.