Intensive early treatment of type 2 diabetes slows down progression of the disease by preserving the body's insulin-producing capacity, a UT Southwestern study has shown...Standard ADA protocol is to let your natural insulin levels to drop to nothing before they put you on injections.
While intensive treatment has been the standard at UT Southwestern for at least a decade, the industry norm has been to emphasize lifestyle changes first. The American College of Physicians, for example, suggests losing weight and dieting before drug treatment. The ADA recommends similar lifestyle changes, plus the use of metformin -- the standard drug used to treat type 2 diabetes -- for those newly diagnosed.
"We believe that the stepwise approach exposes patients to long periods of high blood sugar, which leads to complications," Dr. Lingvay said. "Unless dietary changes are significant and sustained long-term, diabetes is a progressive disease in which the body's ability to produce insulin declines."
The rationale for this was if you inject insulin you will stop producing your own.
That is true if you use it to cover all your glucose. But if you use less than that, you can actually preserve your remaining function.
This is the method my husband uses. It is common practice in Europe and he learned about it on a forum. Not from his doctors. They ask him about it. Seriously.
