What is an insulin in blood test?
This test measures the amount of insulin in your blood. Insulin is a hormone that helps move blood sugar, known as glucose, from your bloodstream into your cells. Glucose comes from the foods you eat and drink. It is your body's main source of energy.
Insulin plays a key role in keeping glucose at the right levels. If glucose levels are too high or too low, it can cause serious health problems. Glucose levels that are not normal are known as:
Hyperglycemia, blood glucose levels that are too high. It happens when your body doesn't make enough insulin. If there's not enough insulin, glucose can't get into your cells. It stays in the bloodstream instead.
Hypoglycemia, blood glucose levels that are too low. If your body sends too much insulin into the blood, too much glucose will go into your cells. This leaves less in the bloodstream.
Diabetes is the most common cause of abnormal glucose levels. There are two types of diabetes.
Type 1 Diabetes. If you have type 1 diabetes, your body makes little or no insulin at all. This can cause hyperglycemia.
Type 2 Diabetes. If you have type 2 diabetes, your body may still be able to make insulin, but the cells in your body don't respond well to insulin and can't easily take up enough glucose from your blood. This is called insulin resistance.
Insulin resistance often develops before type 2 diabetes. At first, insulin resistance causes the body to make extra insulin, to make up for ineffective insulin. Extra insulin in the bloodstream can cause hypoglycemia. But insulin resistance tends to get worse over time. Eventually, it decreases your body's ability to make insulin. As insulin levels drop, blood sugar levels rise. If levels don't return to normal, you may get type 2 diabetes.
Other names: fasting insulin, insulin serum, total and free insulin
