Are Insulins Better Alternatives Than Diabetes Medication

• by DiabetesHealthMatters
• 2021-06-06

Diabetes occurs if the blood sugar or blood glucose is too high. Now, when it comes to treating diabetes, people have two options- insulin and pills. There is one question that generally titillates the mind of the patients- Is insulin a better alternative than diabetes medication? Well, the entire thing depends upon the type of diabetes and stage of diabetes that you have. For example, if you have type 1 diabetes, you should definitely go with insulin. In this case, the pancreas in our bodies stops generating insulin. Insulin is a kind of hormone that actually helps to regulate sugar or glucose in our blood.

Now, if we talk about type 2 diabetes, it actually starts with insulin resistance. You have understood what insulin does. Now, insulin resistance basically indicates the resistance to the insulin hormone. In such a case, the cells in our body cannot properly respond to insulin. Glucose or sugar cannot easily enter into body cells and thus, it builds up in our blood. Eventually, it will lead to type 2 diabetes. So, if you have type 2 diabetes, you might need both- insulin and pills. The patient needs pills in order to mitigate the insulin resistance in the body. If diabetes grows, gradually, the patient will become diabetes deficient. In such a case, the same patient will need insulin. There are situations when the type-2 patients need a combo package. It means that the patient will need a combination of diabetes medication and insulin.

We have also made a comparison between insulin and medicines in order to give you a concrete idea.

Insulin

Medicine

Insulin is a natural hormone If you are taking insulin, you will have minimal or no side effects. You might have to deal with weight gain and hypoglycemia. Insulin needs to be injected. You can say this is the disadvantage of taking insulin. Jet injectors, pens, and syringes are mostly used. You cannot carry insulin and you will have to store it at a cool temperature.

Diabetes medicines are synthesized. There are different types of diabetic medicines that have different side effects. For example, if you go with metformin, you could have an upset stomach, bloating, diarrhea, gas, nausea, and loss of appetite. On the other side, if you take medicines such as glipizide, glyburide, or glimepiride, you will have to deal with weight gain, skin rash, upset stomach, irritability, dizziness, headache, diarrhea, nausea, and many more. If we talk about pills, it does not need to be injected. You can take it just like other pills. You can easily carry medicines and you can easily store them at room temperature.

There are many diabetic patients who do not want to take insulin. But, they must understand that at one point, they will have to take it if the body becomes incapable of producing enough insulin. Long-acting and fast insulin are available. You might have to take both in order to keep the blood glucose level under control.