The Homeostasis Model Assessment (HOMA) index is a blood test used to measure insulin sensitivity and pancreatic beta cell function. Based on it, we can tell if we are liable to develop health problems such as diabetes.
Blood analysis. PHOTO Archive
“We should all go and have our blood test called Homa, it costs 60 lei and based on it we will realize how close or far we are to developing many health problems, including diabetes. I would like this analysis to be included in the annual analyses, because the Government would save much more money in the long term”, he writes Fabius Antal, personal trainer and wellbeing consultant, on his Facebook page.
He shows that insulin resistance leads to diabetes. “There are people who eat very poorly and don't develop diabetes, but develop fatty liver, high blood pressure and many other things. The predisposition to these diseases can be controlled and this Homa is a state of inflammation that constantly enters our lives, only we do not feel it“, states the consultant.
Fabius Antal is of the opinion that this analysis should become mandatory in our country.
“Despite the fact that very many specialists are against this blood test for the early diagnosis of diabetes and other metabolic problems, I want it to become mandatory at the national level. It's not the doctors fault that they stuck with the definition/theory of this analysis from the 90s, but being against it is not acceptable either, because in my view it's still a kind of malpractice that comes easy or sure“, he also said during a health show.
The chemical process, explained
Insulin resistance is a condition in which the body produces the substance, but tissues, especially muscle, liver and fat, are insensitive to it, so extra insulin is needed to transport glucose into the cells. To compensate for this resistance, the beta islet cells of the pancreas produce extra insulin over many years.
If the Homa index is increased, the person in question could suffer from a series of metabolic disorders that identify people at increased risk of developing cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes.
Thus, the presence of the metabolic syndrome shows a three times higher risk of coronary heart disease and stroke, doubling the mortality from these causes. The risk of sudden death is five times higher in patients with diabetes and 2-3 times higher in patients with metabolic syndrome. If diabetes is not already present, metabolic syndrome increases the risk of developing type 2 diabetes by five times.
The HOMA index is recommended in the following situations:
– obesity – is the most common cause of insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes;
– evaluation of patients with a body mass index BMI>28 kg/m^2;
– suspicion of insulin resistance;
– the metabolic syndrome – it brings together several pathological conditions: abdominal obesity, arterial hypertension, increased triglycerides (>150 mg/dl), HDL cholesterol with values <40 mg/dl and blood sugar higher than 100 mg/dl;
– type 2 diabetes;
– polycystic ovary syndrome.
