"I Did Not Want to Think About Insulin"

Some patients who are diagnosed with type 2 diabetes can manage their blood sugar with diet and exercise; others need medication. In 2003, half of people with type 2 diabetes in the United States took oral medication alone, 19% took oral medication and insulin, and 12% took insulin alone. Robert, age 64, had a grandmother with type 2 diabetes. When he was in high school, he gave her an insulin injection every day. That was nearly 40 years ago, but he knew he didn’t want to take insulin himself when he was diagnosed in 2001. He asked his doctor if he could take oral medication instead; now he takes two pills a day to control his blood sugar.