Diabetes Risk Test Panel

Our Diabetes Risk Panel can help determine your risk of diabetes by measuring blood glucose, hemoglobin A1c, and total cholesterol level. The glucose test measures your blood sugar level at the time of testing and will identify high blood sugar (hyperglycemia) or low blood sugar (hypoglycemia). The hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) test measures your average blood sugar levels over the past 3 months. The Total Cholesterol Test measures the total amount of cholesterol content in your blood based on your LDL (bad cholesterol) and HDL (good cholesterol) levels.

No doctor’s visit needed. Buy this diabetes risk test, visit a nearby Quest location, and get fast results.

Please note: This test will only provide a value for total cholesterol and not individual values for LDL or HDL. If you are interested in a test that will provide these individual values, you may want to consider the Insulin Resistance & Metabolic Health Test Panel.

This diabetes risk test may be right for you if any of the following are true:

• You are 45 years of age or older
• You have a family history of prediabetes or diabetes
• You are a woman with a history of gestational diabetes
• You are overweight and have additional risk factors such as high cholesterol, high blood pressure, or lack of physical activity
• You have signs or symptoms of diabetes (see Signs & symptoms section below)

Our Diabetes Risk Panel measures your glucose (blood sugar) levels at the time of testing, hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) to determine your average blood sugar levels over the past 3 months, and total cholesterol in your blood.

Glucose

Glucose is the main sugar found in your bloodstream. The sugar mainly comes from the food you eat and supplies energy to all cells in the body. Blood glucose levels are tightly controlled by hormones like insulin, which is produced in the pancreas. Consistently high blood glucose is typically seen in individuals with uncontrolled or undiagnosed diabetes. In people with diabetes, insulin is either less effective or not produced in sufficient quantity, making it harder to manage the amount of sugar passing through the blood. In type 2 diabetes, the cells become resistant to insulin and ignore its message to absorb glucose, a condition known as insulin resistance. Insulin resistance, a precursor to type 2 diabetes, is strongly associated with atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries caused by plaque accumulation in the inner lining of an artery).

Hemoglobin A1c

Hemoglobin is a protein found in red blood cells that carries oxygen from your lungs to the body's tissues and returns carbon dioxide from the tissues back to the lungs. When sugar enters the bloodstream, it attaches and sticks to hemoglobin molecules to form hemoglobin A1c. The HbA1c test is an important tool used for the screening, diagnosis, and management of diabetes.

Cholesterol

Cholesterol is a waxy, fatty substance found in the blood that is needed to make cell walls, tissues, hormones, vitamin D, and bile acid. Too much cholesterol in the blood may clog blood vessels, which reduces the flow of blood to the heart, brain, and other organs. This may increase your risk of heart disease, stroke, and other serious health conditions. Our Total Cholesterol Test shows your total cholesterol number. This helps determine whether your cholesterol is elevated.

People living with diabetes are more likely to have elevated cholesterol, which may contribute to cardiovascular disease (CVD). Diabetes tends to cause lower levels of "good" cholesterol (HDL) and increase levels of triglycerides and "bad" cholesterol (LDL), which increases the risk of heart disease and stroke (diabetic dyslipidemia).

Signs and symptoms of diabetes may be hard to recognize or go unnoticed. You may consider discussing your risk factors for diabetes with your healthcare provider if you’re experiencing any of the following symptoms:

• Frequent urination
• Increased thirst
• Excessive hunger
• Extreme fatigue
• Dry mouth
• Dry eyes
• Blurred vision
• Yeast infections
• Unexplained weight loss
• Itchy skin
• Slow-healing cuts, bruises, or sores
• Pain, numbness, or tingling in the hands, feet, or legs
• Nausea and vomiting
• Extremely dry skin
• Frequent infections
• Darkening and thickening of the skin on the neck, elbows, underarms, knuckles, groin, or knees