Doctors Bust Myths about Insulin

Doctors Bust Myths about Insulin. People newly diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes often resist taking insulin because they fear gaining weight, developing low blood sugar, and seeing their quality of life decline. A new study suggests that those fears are largely unfounded. The UT Southwestern team studied the effectiveness of insulin-based therapy as an initial treatment option to newly diagnosed Type 2 diabetics. They compared rates of compliance, satisfaction, effectiveness, safety and quality of life among 58 patients, who were randomly allocated to standard triple drug therapy or insulin plus metformin. After 3 years, the researchers report, patients taking insulin plus metformin had fewer low blood sugar or "hypoglycemic" events, gained less weight and reported high satisfaction levels with the insulin. In fact, all of the patients in the insulin group said that they would be willing to continue this form of treatment after the study.

Diabetes Care Aug.2009.