Do I need to take blood sugar pills for life? Does diabetes really require lifelong medication?

Diabetes mellitus is divided into type 1 and type 2, type 1 diabetes due to the destruction of pancreatic islet cells due to various reasons, so that the absolute reduction of insulin, blood sugar is not controlled, must be carried out with synthetic insulin**, and is a lifelong medication.

Type 2 diabetes is mainly caused by obesity and unhealthy diet and other factors, insulin is relatively reduced, oral hypoglycemic drugs will have a better effect, through dietary control, blood sugar can also be maintained at a relatively normal level for a period of time. However, insulin dependence may still develop eventually, which means that lifelong medication may also be required.

If comparatively speaking, the damage of diabetes to all organs in the body, the threat to life and health are much higher than the long-term medication, so diabetes must be effective, as for whether it is necessary to take medication for life, it should be based on the progress of the disease and the doctor's advice to take a scientific way**.

As the most common chronic non-communicable diseases, diabetes, hypertension, these diseases often need to be taken for life, lifelong medication refers to the fact that for most patients, diabetes itself is a small number of patients do not need to take medicine, it only needs to be controlled well through their own diet and exercise, and they can not take medicine for life, there are such patients, but the proportion is very, very small, for more than 95% of patients must need to take medicine, and this medicine generally needs to be taken for life.

People with diabetes don't necessarily need to take medication for life. Once diabetic patients are diagnosed, the best measures given include diabetes education, diabetes diet, diabetes exercise, and diabetes self-monitoring. After the above measures, if the patient's blood sugar is still not up to the target, it is recommended to use medications, such as oral medication or insulin.

In the "Guidelines for the Prevention and Treatment of Type 2 Diabetes in China", the statement that type 2 diabetes is a lifelong medication disease has been deleted, and in 2021, the first edition of China's "Expert Consensus on the Alleviation of Type 2 Diabetes" was released, which has pointed out that the disease can be reversed.

The reversal here refers to the fact that the patient's blood sugar is still in a target or normal state without the use of hypoglycemic drugs. Reversal also has different stages, mainly divided into partial reversal, complete reversal and long-term reversal.

Partial inversion ** without medication and for at least one year, fasting blood glucose 7 mmol l

Complete reversal of ** without medication and for at least 1 year, fasting blood glucose.

Long-term reversal of the complete reversal of ** persists for more than 5 years (regular check-ups and weight vigilance are still required to avoid **).

If patients with type 2 diabetes want to reverse it, they must make efforts in three aspects.

One is to work hard to lose weight and maintain a healthy weight, and insulin secretion will increase.

The second is to follow your doctor's instructions and start strengthening blood sugar as soon as possible**, such as taking hypoglycemic drugs or insulin injections to control blood sugar within a reasonable range.

The third is to adjust the lifestyle to a healthy and regular lifestyle, control the diet, insist on exercise, quit smoking and alcohol.