Are Insulin Shots Avoidable?

Even the Joslin Diabetes Center agrees that insulin probably is not avoidable. They lean heavily on the statement that diabetes is a progressive disease. I do agree with their statement that the longer you have type 2 diabetes, the more likely your pancreas will deteriorate and you will need to be on insulin.

This may happen even if you take excellent care of yourself. This is where in their discussion they drop the ball when they could have used their blog for further education on the use of insulin. Most people use insulin as the medication of last resort and they should consider using it earlier.

Even knowing this, I will promote people that are able to catch their diabetes early and use exercise and diet to avoid all medications. Even people that have diabetes are able to change their lifestyles and get off medications. Some are able to do this for a few years and others are capable of staying off medications for several decades. This is because they are able to slow or even halt the progression of diabetes for an unknown length of time. This length of time depends on their bodies and their ability to follow a strict management regimen. It will also depend on how their pancreas has been previously damaged.

Remember that diabetes and the use of insulin is not a death sentence. This is a myth promoted by physicians to have their patients adhere to the oral medications as a way of managing diabetes. In truth, insulin can be an aid for your pancreas and lengthen its useful life. Yes, you need to be more careful and if you are capable of an exercise regimen, you will need to regulate your insulin use very carefully to prevent hypoglycemia.

This is a good reason to investigate insulin early to educate yourself about using insulin, the advantages and the disadvantages. Knowing the myths and the facts about insulin is important. Being knowledgeable in listening to people promoting the myths even if you know better is more important than getting into arguments.

The second blog by Joslin is a little more complicated. It is technically correct; however, I have seen and been taught different terminology. This is often the case when talking about diabetes. One group uses one set of terms and another group uses another set of terms. Sometimes it is the difference between physicians and patients, while at other times one group of physicians use different terms not used by another group of physicians.

Rather than add terms at this point, please read the blog by Joslin and learn the terms they use with their definitions as this is the important part.