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Could Someone Explain - Islet Negative! Please

GlitterSparkles

GlitterSparkles

Well-Known Member
Messages
83
Location
South UK
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
Dislikes
Diabetes
Hi, could anyone explain what the islet test is?? and what a negative result means.

thanks
 
I suspect that the Test is to see if or how many Islets you have in the Pancreas.

The Islets Of Langahan are the ones responsible for making Insulin, those are the ones in Type 1 that break, because we have an autoimmune condition.

If it is "negative" I suspect your like me in the fact that everything is packed up, so you now have to do the job of your pancreas by injecting insulin and monitoring BSL, like your doing now :)

PS forgot to add I'm not medically trained, found out the above by doing a search :)
 
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I have not heard of this test but my guess would be the same as @Knikki
To be honest, I have nothing to add to this discussion but, @GlitterSparkles , your name makes me smile every time I see it so I wanted to say "Hi!"
Hope things are going ok for you, now.
 
Hi @GlitterSparkles (and dad), this is a little bit out of my area - mostly a brain person - but I would guess they were referring to the Islet Cell Antibody test - basically, what that would mean is that you aren't producing any antibodies against the islet cells in your pancreas. This isn't a 'good' or a 'bad' thing, and it's certainly nothing to worry about. There are lots of different antibodies in people with type 1, and that's just 1 of them. You were probably also tested for GAD, which is the most common autoantibody in Type 1 people.

Basically what that means is, at the moment, your body isn't reacting to one of the proteins found in the cells that produce insulin. It doesn't really mean anything for you.

Take care!
 
Thank you for the answers, my mum will ask the nurse on friday to explain all the results as we only recieved them today.
 
As others have said I suspect it may have been a GAD test. A negative GAD implies no GAD antibodies detected. This doesn't mean a lot as there are other antibodies and of course viruses that can help destroy the beta cells. Also, as NICE says, the test becomes less valid as time progresses after diagnosis. In some situations a C-Peptide test can be useful in showing your actual insulin production level as the cause of beta cell loss is less important than having the correct treatment for it (typically insulin). Even this test can be unreliable.
 
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