The CardioIQ Insulin Resistance Panel is a test designed to uncover insulin resistance before blood sugar levels or HbA1c begin to rise. Insulin resistance (IR) occurs when cells in your body become less responsive to insulin, the hormone that helps move glucose from your bloodstream into your cells for energy. When this resistance builds, your pancreas compensates by producing more insulin—but this silent adaptation can continue for years before it becomes visible through standard blood sugar testing.
What makes this panel particularly valuable is its dual measurement of fasting insulin and c-peptide—both produced by the pancreas in response to glucose. While insulin acts on cells to lower blood sugar, c-peptide is a byproduct of insulin production that serves as a stable and reliable marker of how much insulin your body is producing. Since c-peptide sticks around longer in your bloodstream and fluctuates less than insulin, it provides an important complementary view of your body’s insulin output.
Based on your individual results, an insulin resistance score (IR score) is generated—a probability score from 0 to 100% that estimates your likelihood of having insulin resistance. This matters because insulin resistance is a root cause of not only prediabetes and type 2 diabetes, but also heart disease, stroke, fatty liver disease, polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), and even some cancers. Importantly, many people with early-stage IR have completely normal blood sugar levels, making it easy to miss using traditional tests.
In clinical studies, people with an IR score over 66% had more than 15 times greater odds of having insulin resistance than those with scores below 33%. High IR scores have also been linked to future development of type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and even all-cause mortality. In one long-term study, individuals with high IR scores had more than double the risk of developing type 2 diabetes over 9 years—even after accounting for traditional risk factors like weight, cholesterol, and blood pressure.