Own insulin?

[anneli]

Hi,

I was diagnosed with type 2 in -98, my doctor said that it was unusual that someone that young,24 got it and that he wanted to take another test to see how much own insulin I had.

Some time ago I asked a diabetic nurse if you can test to see how much own insulin you have and she said no.

Which one is right?

Thanks

 

[AMBrennan]

Well, that's difficult to answer because "how much own insulin you have" is a too vague; your doctor is correct and your DSN is either wrong or her comment was too vague and/or misunderstood.

What is routinely done is a c-peptide test which measures how much insulin you are producing. Low levels would indicate an absolute insulin deficit and thus T1 diabetes. The nurse may be right in that it is difficult to measure insulin production itself since it's broken down quicker (which is why the test uses a proxy).