Why is there not a consumer product to measure insulin?

(Alec) #1

Does anybody know? Is it that there just isn’t enough demand, or is it technically hard to do?

(icky) #2

I do not know, but my guess would be too little demand.

To even WANT to test your insulin, you’d need to be pretty darned educated/ aware.

So how large is that customer base going to be?

Most people who are pre-diabetic/ insulin resistant are pretty happy to NOT know what their insulin is up to :see_no_evil:

(Todd Allen) #3

Currently it is technically hard to do. And it isn’t very commonly tested. I suspect if insulin was tested every time fasting blood sugar was checked it would result in significantly better screening for pre-diabetes. But there is little appreciation of the significance or appropriate treatment of pre-diabetes in medical practice.

#4

Well, measuring insulin is kinda of a hit or miss anyways because there was a study that showed even thinking about food will raise insulin levels :confused:

(Alec) #5

Absolutely, and this is bad. So why can’t we measure it? Insulin gets elevated for many reasons, not just eating carbs and protein.

(bulkbiker) #6

I have spoken to a guy in Holland who is developing one but it currently costs $10,000 so I’ll have to wait a bit until the price drops.

(Aimee Moisa) #7

I think because modern medicine views insulin as the solution rather than the problem.The answer to a diabetes diagnosis is an insulin prescription, not dietary changes. Can’t process sugar? Take insulin!

(Robert C) #8

I do not understand how knowing your insulin numbers (which, I think, change quickly) would be helpful without also knowing your insulin resistance.

You eat, your insulin goes up, but your insulin resistance is high so your pancreas keeps producing insulin - I think this is bad and insulin measured would be high.
OR
You eat, your insulin goes up, but you insulin resistance is low - I think this is okay/good but your insulin measured would also be high (you just ate).

I’m just guessing on this!

(Randy) #9

How can you treat diabetes if you’ve already treated pre-diabetes?!?!?!?

There’s no profit in that.

(Todd Allen) #10

Measuring insulin could give a lot of insight into the nature of one’s state of insulin resistance. Insulin resistance is more complex than a number such as a HOMA IR score. There are many targets of insulin: the liver, skeletal muscle, adipose tissue, endocrine glands, etc. And insulin has multiple functions, in addition to lowering high blood glucose levels it drives the uptake of amino acids into muscle, suppresses gluconeogenesis, suppresses fatty acid metabolism and prevents runaway ketone production leading to ketoacidosis, etc. I expect there would be a lot of value in monitoring insulin with respect to diet, exercise and other factors if one could measure insulin as easy as blood glucose.

(Raj Seth) #11

Insulin has like a 3 minute life. It varies a lot. Fasting insulin probably measures basal insulin but my doctor was adamant about not letting me do it. I begged cajoled and fought. He didn’t write it
Dumbass

(Alec) #12

he probably struggles interpreting the data, and hence doesn’t want the hassle. Especially if you seemed to know more about it than he did!!

(Jason Christianson) #13

I would think there must be textbooks describing the methods of measurement. However, I’ve not been successful in digging it up.

(Auden) #14

I’m planning to order my own fasting insulin for $30 from Life Extension. I’m in the US. I just don’t feel like fighting with my doctor.

(Steve) #15

I think if/when they do come out with a product, they’ll test both insulin and glucose at the same time, so they can do trending.
Ideally, you’s want something that can actually test it through the skin - non-intrusively.

Supposedly Apple has a team working on measuring blood sugar levels with their Watch. Someone should put a bug in their ear to also get working on insulin. :slight_smile:

#16

Sadly in treating Diabetics, the first course is drugs not defining the problem. I find that Primary Care for most of the people I know is to aggressively predcribe pills or insulin of some type. I am guessing the Doctors figure “resistance” is too great thus time to prescribe all the goodies the reps bring to their office. Most primary cares loose the big picture where as Endocrinologist seems to try to work through the process and educate. The problem is once you have fallen from pre or arrived as a full fledge diabetic, you are now acute in your chronic disease. This concept of taking time to get a better idea and degree of the disease is still rather new. I have been treated from time zero fo 25 years later with out ever knowing about checking insulin levels beyond the glucose stress test. If a HOMA-IR was done and told your options were to go Keto or the path that I have had with drugs new drugs and more and more drugs, I would have gone Keto! As change and knowledge about the Hormone Insulin and its multiple effects within the body are put out there by Fung, Phinney, Bikman, and many others and especially by the 2 Keto dudes, I think more people will ask for it that want to work on their control and dr will do it to give options based on information. I just got mine done and say I have a base line that I never had.