title: [Insulin therapy in type 2 diabetes].
abstract: Type 2 diabetes is a growing prevalent disease, usually symptomless, with devastating chronic complications for the individual, family and society. Its progressive nature leads to the dose escalating and the association of different drugs which will rapidly become insufficient to achieve the glycemic goals established individually. Insulin is the most effective drug to control diabetes but there is frequently a silent contract to resist to its implementation between the healthcare team and people with type 2 diabetes. This publication aims to share information about this therapeutic option, eliminating old myths and giving an understandable teaching about all the process of insulin therapy centered on the person with type 2 diabetes. Sharing knowledge with different groups of healthcare professionals regarding the glycemic goals and how to reach them with distinct kinds of available insulins, will allow the release by multiprofessional teams of a homogeneous and non contradictory information to the people with type 2 diabetes. Moreover, a good engagement between physicians and nurse educators in the same team is the cornerstone to the initiation and intensification of insulin therapy. The decision of starting insulin therapy is not the end of the process. The progressive nature of the disease compels to empower the patient to adjust its dose of insulin according to the self monitoring blood glucose data and to realize that the decision of a single therapeutic scheme is not definitive, being adapted upon the clinical condition of the person along the diabetes evolution.
authors.affiliation: Centro Hospitalar do Porto, Porto, Portugal; Professor Convidado do Mestrado Integrado de Medicina do ICBAS, Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal. jorgedores@sapo.pt
authors.forename: Jorge
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Dores
mesh_terms: D000465:Algorithms; D003924:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 / Q000188:drug therapy*; D006801:Humans; D007328:Insulin / Q000627:therapeutic use*
chemical_list: D007328:Insulin