Ulta Lab Tests LogoContact Us

Category: Diabetes

September 22, 2026

Diabetes After Pancreatitis or Pancreatic Surgery: Understanding Type 3c Diabetes

How glucose, insulin-secretion, autoimmune, and stool tests answer different questions after pancreatic disease or surgery.

Diabetes can develop after pancreatitis or pancreatic surgery because pancreatic disease can affect the cells that make insulin. This is often called pancreatic, pancreatogenic, or type 3c diabetes. Understanding the cause matters because some people […]

Read More
September 22, 2026

Planning Pregnancy With Type 1 Diabetes: Blood and Urine Tests to Discuss Before Conception

A preconception guide to glucose, kidney, and thyroid assessment alongside coordinated diabetes and pregnancy care.

Planning pregnancy with type 1 diabetes starts before a positive pregnancy test. A preconception review helps the diabetes and pregnancy teams assess glucose patterns, kidney health, thyroid function, medicines, and existing complications while there is […]

Read More
September 22, 2026

Can You Have Type 1 Diabetes and Insulin Resistance? Understanding Weight and Metabolic Risk

How glucose, lipid, and kidney results support metabolic-risk assessment in people with established type 1 diabetes.

Yes. A person can have autoimmune type 1 diabetes and insulin resistance at the same time. Type 1 diabetes describes an immune-related loss of insulin-producing cells. Insulin resistance describes a reduced response to insulin in […]

Read More
September 22, 2026

Numbness and Tingling With Diabetes: When B12, Thyroid, and Kidney Tests Matter

How B12, thyroid, and kidney results can help investigate nerve symptoms without assuming diabetes is the only cause.

Numbness, burning, or tingling in someone with diabetes deserves an explanation. Diabetic peripheral neuropathy is one possibility, but vitamin B12 deficiency, thyroid disease, kidney disease, nerve compression, and other problems can produce similar symptoms. More […]

Read More
September 20, 2026

Cystatin C Test: Early CKD Detection & Better eGFR

When a second filtration marker can clarify kidney function—and why it still needs clinical context.

A cystatin C test measures a blood protein that can be used to estimate glomerular filtration rate, or eGFR. It is generally less influenced by muscle mass than creatinine, making it useful when a creatinine-based […]

Read More
September 20, 2026

Chronic Kidney Disease: Why eGFR and Urine Albumin Must Be Read Together

How paired kidney results, confirmation, and trends help clarify chronic kidney disease risk.

Chronic kidney disease testing uses two complementary measurements: an eGFR test, usually calculated first from serum creatinine, and a urine albumin test, most often reported as the urine albumin-to-creatinine ratio (UACR). The eGFR test estimates […]

Read More
September 20, 2026

Type 1 Diabetes and Celiac Disease: When Screening and Follow-Up Testing Matter

People with type 1 diabetes have an increased likelihood of celiac disease, but screening plans differ for children and adults. Celiac disease may be found before digestive symptoms are recognized. It can also become relevant […]

Read More
September 19, 2026

FIB-4 Score Explained: Calculation and Age Cutoffs

Learn How to Calculate and Understand Your FIB-4 Score for Better Liver Health

Calculate the score correctly, apply age-appropriate thresholds, and understand when another assessment is needed. A FIB-4 score estimates the probability of advanced liver fibrosis using age, AST, ALT, and platelet count. It is a risk-stratification […]

Read More
September 18, 2026

MASLD Blood Tests: What Fatty Liver Testing Can Reveal

Understand MASLD and MASH, what initial blood tests can reveal, and when imaging or a separate fibrosis assessment is needed.

Understand fatty liver terminology, the purpose of initial blood tests, and when imaging or further assessment may be needed. MASLD blood tests help evaluate liver injury, metabolic risk, and possible alternative causes, but they cannot […]

Read More
September 18, 2026

MASLD Fibrosis Risk: Testing for Silent Liver Scarring

See how liver enzymes, platelets, FIB-4, ELF, and elastography help assess scarring risk before symptoms and guide follow-up.

How AST, ALT, platelets, A1C, lipids, and secondary fibrosis tests work together to guide evaluation and follow-up. MASLD fibrosis risk can be present even when liver enzymes fall within the laboratory reference interval. Metabolic dysfunction-associated […]

Read More
September 18, 2026

Adult-Onset Autoimmune Diabetes (LADA): When Type 2 Does Not Fit

How glucose, A1C, islet autoantibodies, C-peptide, and ketones help clarify diabetes type, remaining insulin production, and urgent risk. Adult-onset type 1 diabetes can initially resemble type 2 diabetes. In a slower-progressing presentation often called latent […]

Read More
September 17, 2026

Gout and Hyperuricemia: Why a Uric Acid Result Alone Does Not Diagnose—or Exclude—a Gout Flare

How serum urate, kidney function, metabolic risk, and crystal confirmation work together to clarify diagnosis and guide monitoring.

Gout is an inflammatory arthritis caused by deposits of monosodium urate crystals in and around joints. Hyperuricemia means that serum urate—often reported as “uric acid”—is elevated. The two are related, but they are not interchangeable: […]

Read More
September 10, 2026

Prediabetes and Type 2 Diabetes: Why A1C, Fasting Glucose, OGTT, Kidney, and Lipid Testing Must Be Read Together

How to read glucose, kidney, lipid, and liver results together and understand when additional testing or follow-up may be needed.

Glucose results tell you about blood sugar. Kidney, lipid, and liver results answer additional questions about your health. A person can have an improving A1C while urine albumin remains elevated, cholesterol-related risk persists, or liver […]

Read More
September 3, 2026

Can Fatigue Be an Early Sign of Diabetes? Symptoms, Blood Tests, and Other Causes

When unusual tiredness may point to high blood sugar, which tests can clarify the cause, and when another explanation is more likely.

Fatigue can occur with diabetes, but tiredness by itself cannot tell you whether your blood sugar is high. The most useful clues are the pattern of fatigue, the symptoms that appear with it, your risk […]

Read More
September 3, 2026

Obesity Is a Disease: BMI, Waist Size, and Lab Testing

How BMI and waist measurements fit with complication-focused evaluation—and why no blood test diagnoses obesity.

Editorial status: Draft for named medical and laboratory review. Product URLs are supported by current Ulta Lab Tests search and internal-link evidence but still require a final in-site canonical check before publication. Obesity is a […]

Read More
September 3, 2026

Leptin and Leptin Resistance: Function, Testing, and Limits

How leptin signals long-term energy availability, why high levels do not diagnose “leptin resistance,” and when serum leptin measurement may add useful clinical context.

What is leptin, and should it be tested for weight loss? Leptin is a hormone made mainly by fat cells. It carries information about stored energy to the brain, especially the hypothalamus, and helps coordinate […]

Read More
September 3, 2026

Cortisol, Stress, and Insulin Resistance: What the Evidence and Lab Tests Show

How cortisol affects glucose regulation, why everyday stress is not diagnosed with a cortisol test, and when endocrine testing belongs in care.

Direct Answer Cortisol helps the body make fuel available during physical or psychological demands. Sustained pathologic cortisol excess, as occurs in Cushing syndrome, can raise glucose, impair insulin action, increase blood pressure, and alter body-fat […]

Read More
September 2, 2026

Metabolic Syndrome Blood Tests: The 5 Criteria and What Results Mean

How waist circumference, blood pressure, fasting glucose, triglycerides, and HDL identify a connected cardiometabolic risk pattern.

Direct Answer Metabolic syndrome is a cluster of cardiometabolic risk factors, not a single blood-test result. A healthcare professional commonly identifies it when at least three of five findings are present: increased waist circumference, elevated […]

Read More
September 1, 2026

HOMA2-IR, HOMA2-%B, and HOMA2-%S Explained

What the fasting HOMA2 model can—and cannot—tell you about insulin sensitivity, insulin resistance, and beta-cell activity.

HOMA2-IR, HOMA2-%B & HOMA2-%S Explained Direct answer: HOMA2 is a nonlinear computer model, not a stand-alone blood test. From compatible fasting glucose with insulin or C-peptide, it estimates insulin sensitivity (HOMA2-%S), the reciprocal insulin-resistance index […]

Read More
August 28, 2026

High Triglycerides: Causes, ApoB, Remnant Cholesterol, and When ApoC-III Testing May Help

Understand why triglycerides rise, which tests should come first, and when ApoB, remnant cholesterol, direct LDL, or ApoC-III may add context.

Apolipoprotein B (ApoB) can add cardiovascular-risk information when the number of atherogenic particles may be underestimated by LDL cholesterol (LDL-C), particularly when triglycerides are above 200 mg/dL or diabetes is present. Calculated remnant cholesterol can […]

Read More
August 28, 2026

Heart Failure: How BNP, Kidney, Iron, Thyroid, and Metabolic Testing Complete the Diagnostic Picture

A patient-centered guide to how BNP or NT-proBNP fits with kidney function, electrolytes, iron status, thyroid function, and metabolic markers—and why no single test confirms heart failure.

Heart failure blood tests help answer different parts of the diagnostic puzzle. BNP or NT-proBNP can show that the heart is under increased wall stress, while kidney, electrolyte, blood-count, iron, thyroid, glucose, lipid, and liver […]

Read More
August 28, 2026

Hypertension Lab Tests: What Blood and Urine Testing Can Reveal After a High Reading

How Kidney Function, UACR, Electrolytes, Glucose, Lipids, Thyroid Testing, and Targeted Hormone Tests Help Explain the Risks Behind High Blood Pressure

A blood-pressure cuff detects elevated pressure inside your arteries. Hypertension lab tests answer different questions: they can help show whether high blood pressure is affecting the kidneys, whether glucose or lipid abnormalities are adding cardiovascular […]

Read More
August 27, 2026

What can I do to reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes?

Unlocking Prevention: Lab Testing as Your Guide to Reduce the Risk of Type 2 Diabetes

Type 2 diabetes cannot always be prevented, but many people can substantially lower or delay their risk. The most effective approach is to identify prediabetes early, build sustainable eating and activity habits, improve sleep, avoid […]

Read More
August 27, 2026

Is Falling Asleep After Eating a Sign of Diabetes?

What post-meal sleepiness can - and cannot - tell you about blood sugar, diabetes risk, and other common causes of fatigue.

Short answer: Falling asleep after eating is not, by itself, a reliable sign of diabetes. Post-meal sleepiness, also called postprandial somnolence, can occur because of a normal early-afternoon dip in alertness, insufficient sleep, a large […]

Read More
August 27, 2026

High A1C Levels Without Diabetes: Is It Possible

A high A1C can reflect true dysglycemia, red-blood-cell changes, or an assay interference. The right next step is confirmation—not assuming that you do or do not have diabetes.

It is possible to have a high A1C without an established diabetes diagnosis. An A1C of 5.7% to 6.4% is in the prediabetes range. An A1C of 6.5% or higher meets a diabetes diagnostic threshold, […]

Read More
1 2 3
Copyright © 2013-2026 Ulta Lab Tests, LLC All Rights Reserved.