Fasting insulin test

How hard your pancreas works to keep your blood sugar normal.

€14.41. You pay at the desk, not online.

• Preparation: Fasting from the evening before
• Prescription: Not needed
• Results: In the Rosa app, within 10 working days
• Also called: Insulina a digiuno, insulinemia

Fasting insulin test: what it is for

Insulin is the hormone that lets sugar into your cells. Measured after a night without food, it shows how hard your pancreas is working to keep your blood sugar normal. It often rises years before glucose does.

Why it is done

After a meal your blood sugar rises, and your pancreas releases insulin to move it into your cells. If your cells respond less, your pancreas makes more insulin to get the same effect.

So your blood sugar can stay normal for years while your insulin is already high. This is called insulin resistance, and it often comes long before type two diabetes.

How the fasting insulin test is done

It is a blood test, done at a Bianalisi lab without a prescription. You can add other tests to the same draw.

Questions about the fasting insulin test.

Do I need to fast for an insulin test? Yes, and it matters even more than for glucose: even a small snack pushes it up a lot. You are usually asked not to eat from the evening before. You can drink water.

How much does the fasting insulin test cost? €14.41, from Bianalisi’s private list for Lombardy. You pay at the desk on the day of the draw, not online.

Do I need a prescription for the fasting insulin test? No. You book it here without a prescription and pay at the Bianalisi desk.

When do results arrive? Within 10 working days, in the Rosa app, with each value next to the lab’s interval. The report a doctor approves is in the Rosa membership.