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HOMA-IR calculator: work out your score from two blood numbers
HOMA-IR turns two numbers from one fasting blood sample, glucose and insulin, into a single score for how hard your body is working to keep its sugar steady. Enter them from your report and the arithmetic runs here, on your device.
Calculator
Enter your two fasting readings
The arithmetic
The formula, in full
The same two lines the calculator runs, so you can check it by hand.
- HOMA-IR = fasting glucose (mg/dL) × fasting insulin (µU/mL) ÷ 405
- HOMA-IR = fasting glucose (mmol/L) × fasting insulin (µU/mL) ÷ 22.5
A worked example: a fasting glucose of 100 mg/dL and a fasting insulin of 10 µU/mL give 100 × 10 ÷ 405 = 2.47. The same sample reported as 5.55 mmol/L gives 5.55 × 10 ÷ 22.5 = 2.47 too: one mmol/L of glucose is about 18 mg/dL, and the two constants differ by the same factor.
Source: Matthews DR and colleagues, “Homeostasis model assessment: insulin resistance and β-cell function from fasting plasma glucose and insulin concentrations in man”, Diabetologia, 1985.
What it describes
What the score is a measure of
When muscle and liver respond less readily to insulin, the pancreas makes more of it to hold glucose in its usual range. For years that can work: the glucose on a report stays ordinary while the insulin behind it climbs. HOMA-IR puts the two side by side, which is why it can show the strain before a sugar test alone does.
It is one score from one morning. Insulin assays differ between laboratories, a short night's fast or a recent illness moves it, and it says nothing about where weight sits or how the liver is doing. That is why a doctor reads it with HbA1c, the lipid profile, liver enzymes and your waist, and why the number means most beside the rest of a panel.
Questions
Questions people ask about HOMA-IR calculators
Which units does the HOMA-IR calculator take?
Glucose in mg/dL, the unit most Indian reports print, or in mmol/L; pick the one on your report. Insulin in µU/mL, which is the same number as mIU/L. If your report gives insulin in pmol/L, divide by about 6 to get µU/mL, and check the factor your laboratory uses.
Do both numbers have to come from a fasting sample?
Yes. The formula was built on fasting values: both from the same morning sample after an overnight fast of eight to twelve hours, with water only. A meal raises glucose and insulin within minutes, and a score worked out from a fed sample describes the meal rather than you.
Can I use my HbA1c in place of fasting glucose?
No. HbA1c is a three-month average and measures something different from a single fasting value, so it does not fit the formula. A doctor reads HbA1c beside HOMA-IR, not inside it, and the two together say more than either alone.
Is anything I type into the calculator stored?
No. The arithmetic runs in your browser and nothing you type is sent to us or kept. A glucose and an insulin reading are health information, and this page does not collect them from anybody.
One next step
Have both numbers measured at home, and read by a doctor
Fasting glucose and fasting insulin are both on every ₹1,799 home panel: one morning sample at your address where your pincode is served, read by a registered doctor with the rest of your results.