Insulin is the only hormone in the body that lowers blood sugar and is the main hormone in the body that promotes the synthesis of substances, so it is also known as the "storage hormone".Insulin can promote the utilization of sugar and the synthesis of glycogen, and inhibit the heterogeneity of non-sugar substances (fat, protein) into sugar; it can promote the synthesis of fat and inhibit the decomposition of fat; it can promote the synthesis of protein and inhibit the decomposition of protein.For insulin therapy, many patients have misunderstandings.

Myth 1: Injecting insulin can be as addictive as taking drugs.Among all diabetics who have misunderstandings about insulin treatment, the majority of people who think that insulin use is addictive, and even among many people who do not suffer from diabetes, there are many people who hold this view.And this view is so ingrained that many patients with diabetes shake their heads like a rattle when they hear that they are going to get insulin, and what's more, they have conflicts with doctors for this.In fact, this view is very wrong.Insulin has nothing to do with so-called addictive drugs or drugs.In fact, anyone, even many animals, can't do without insulin. It is a physiological hormone necessary to regulate the metabolism of nutrients in our body, and its role is almost irreplaceable.The problem is that healthy people have well-functioning insulin secreting cells (B cells), which can provide sufficient and high-quality insulin according to the needs of the human body.Diabetics, on the other hand, have an absolute or relative lack of insulin in their body due to various reasons, or the quality of insulin is defective, and once this deficiency or defect is formed, it will intensify and it will be extremely difficult to recover.The reason why many diabetics need long-term insulin injections for treatment is that their islet cells have declined to the point of exhaustion in a long or short period of time, and they have to rely on external supplementation, otherwise they will have serious consequences due to metabolic disorders of blood sugar and other nutrients.In other words, insulin injection therapy only replenishes what is lacking in the body for diabetics, and there is no problem of “addiction when insulin is used“.Facts have proved that some patients with type 2 diabetes receive short-term insulin treatment in the early stages of the disease. Instead of being “addicted”, their blood sugar is stable and up to standard for a long time after insulin treatment is stopped, and even oral hypoglycemic drugs do not need to be taken for a long period of time.It can be seen that “insulin is addictive” is nothing more than the imagination of patients, or “rumors” circulating in the community.The words of the wrong person are untrustworthy!

Myth 2: Resolutely do not use insulin until you have to.Many diabetics and even some non-endocrinologists believe that insulin injection is the last resort for diabetes treatment, and they are unwilling to use insulin as a last resort (here refers to type 2 diabetes).In fact, this view is also very wrong.For the treatment of diabetes, controlling blood sugar is important, but protecting the function of islet cells is also of long-term significance.The control of blood sugar depends on the presence of insulin, and many oral hypoglycemic drugs do not have a direct hypoglycemic effect in the body, but indirectly reduce blood sugar by stimulating the release of insulin or improving its effect.With the prolongation of the course of diabetes and the age of the patient, the islet cells will gradually “age”, and the ability to synthesize and secrete insulin will gradually decline, showing a decline of “rivers and rivers”.In this process, excessive blood sugar or prolonged use of larger doses of insulin secreting agents (which stimulate insulin secretion in the body) can accelerate the trend of islet cell decline.This is similar to the fact that people will have premature aging under long-term excessive pressure, and even die from overwork.Conversely, the timely (early) use of exogenous insulin therapy to lower blood sugar, while reducing or eliminating drugs that stimulate self-insulin secretion, can slow down the rate of islet cell decline.This is like working with illness after a person gets sick, which often makes the illness worse, and eventually loses the ability to continue working. On the contrary, asking for sick leave to recuperate in time can win the ability and opportunity to continue working.Therefore, it is currently advocated that oral hypoglycemic drugs should not be used at the maximum dose, and insulin replacement therapy should be used early at medium or higher doses (second-largest doses) to protect the function of one's own islet cells.It should be emphasized that the function of residual islet cells is still of great significance for stabilizing blood sugar.If the islet cells really fail to the point where the mountains are exhausted, blood sugar can fluctuate easily and it is difficult to stabilize to the standard, just like type 1 diabetes, the so-called fragile diabetes.Because the remaining self-islet cells have a good buffering effect on exogenous insulin.When the injected exogenous insulin is slightly excessive, the insulin secreted by its own islet cells will be reduced, so that hypoglycemia is not easy to occur; and when the exogenous insulin is slightly insufficient, its own islet cells will increase the secretion of insulin, so that the blood sugar can not be too high.On the contrary, after the self-islet cells are completely exhausted, this buffering ability is gone, and the patient's blood sugar will rise and fall like a roller coaster, which is difficult to control.

Myth 3: Insulin therapy can cause liver and kidney failure.Although there are only a very small number of people who agree with this view, as a matter of big or small, it is still necessary to explain it.The author has encountered such a situation more than once. As soon as the patient was admitted to the hospital, family members or relatives and friends called to express their condolences, and repeatedly told the patient not to let the doctor inject insulin on the phone, and listed who he knew who beat around the bush died of liver or kidney failure soon after the insulin injection.It is this kind of ”greeting" that makes the patient's original understanding and acceptance of the doctor's advice repeated. The doctor needs to spend several times or even dozens of times more time than this call to communicate with the patient's thoughts again. Work.The actual situation is that compared with oral hypoglycemic drugs, insulin has no toxic side effects on the organs.Most of the insulin currently used is produced through genetic engineering. It has exactly the same molecular structure as human insulin. Therefore, why is it toxic to the liver and kidney?For those cases mentioned on the phone, the analysis may be because these patients had poor liver and kidney function, so the doctor chose insulin treatment, but they eventually died due to their serious condition.Obviously, there is no logical causal relationship between insulin treatment and the patient's death, but there is a sequence relationship in time.In fact, it is very likely that those who do not know it are just spreading rumors and copying out of shape.However, such misinformation has had an adverse effect on patients, not only delaying treatment but also interfering with the normal work of doctors, indirectly shortening the time for doctors to serve other patients, and the impact is not deep.

Myth 4: You don't need to control your diet if you receive insulin treatment.The temptation of food is often difficult to resist, and it is also “cruel” to keep diabetics away from food.But the claim that diabetics can enjoy food to the fullest after insulin injection treatment, and even eat whatever they want, is obviously wrong.Diabetes treatment has the term "five carriages", namely diabetes education and psychotherapy, diet therapy, exercise therapy, drug (including insulin) therapy, and blood glucose monitoring.It can be seen that diet therapy is one of the basic treatments and cannot be discarded under any circumstances.Due to many factors that affect blood sugar, the dose, dosage form and injection time of insulin vary greatly from patient to patient.Even the same patient needs different insulin under different pathophysiological conditions.So, what are the adverse consequences of increasing your diet at will?We might as well analyze it: first of all, increasing the diet leads to excessive intake of calories and glycemic substances. If you want to keep your blood sugar from rising excessively, you must increase your insulin dose. However, the quantity-effect relationship between food and insulin is difficult to determine, and even professional medical staff cannot easily calculate it, let alone patients who are tempted by food and get carried away.Once insulin is increased too much, hypoglycemia will follow.On the contrary, if insulin is not increased enough, hyperglycemia will be difficult to get rid of.Secondly, even if the increased food happens to be the same as the increased insulin dose, blood sugar has not changed much, but according to the law of conservation of mass, the food eaten will definitely be converted into its own nutrients and stored, which will cause weight gain, and weight gain is the enemy of Type 2 diabetes. It can lead to insulin resistance and further interfere with the treatment of diabetes.Therefore, patients receiving insulin therapy should still strictly abide by the principle of dietary therapy.

Myth 5: You can't use other oral hypoglycemic drugs with insulin.At present, commonly used insulin is divided into short-acting, medium-acting, and premix, and there are also modified insulin analogues divided into ultra-short-acting, ultra-long-acting, and so on.Insulin of different ages can be used in combination with different types of oral hypoglycemic drugs, so as to play a role in learning from each other's strengths.Taking insulin secretory agents during the day and injecting one medium-acting or long-acting insulin at night can achieve a harmonious compromise between reducing the dose of secretory agents, protecting the function of islet cells, and reducing the number of injections and improving treatment compliance.Therefore, taking hypoglycemic drugs while injecting insulin is a commonly used drug treatment option.

Myth 6: Injecting insulin is too troublesome.Many patients agree with the benefits of insulin therapy, and they also deny that insulin is “addictive”, but they think that the use of insulin is too complicated and troublesome, so they are hesitant to use insulin or continue oral drug treatment.Especially those who often travel, travel, and participate in business activities, when they talk about using insulin, they immediately frown and think about it again and again.In fact, the use of insulin today is very simple, and there are many injection methods to choose from.At present, the most commonly used is the use of insulin pens for insulin injections, such as Novo Nordisk pens, Youpai pens, Toho pens, etc. These pen-type syringes have been strictly designed and produced, so the dose scale is very accurate, and users can also easily replace them like ballpoint pens; insulin refills;.Moreover, these pens are equipped with thermal insulation bags to facilitate the use of patients when they go out, and to protect the “insulin refill” from deterioration caused by external high temperature.In addition, there are disposable disposable “extra-charge” insulin pens for patients to choose from, which are more convenient to use when going out.If economic conditions permit, an insulin pump should be the best choice. It can simulate the physiological secretion of insulin in the human body, better control blood sugar, and be more convenient to carry, more secretive, and less complicated to operate.There have been reports of diabetics wearing insulin pumps participating in major sports competitions and beauty pageants and winning championships.It can be seen that insulin treatment is not as troublesome as people think.

Myth 7: Insulin must be placed in the refrigerator.Some patients or family members did not read the insulin instructions carefully, thinking that insulin must be placed in the refrigerator so as not to deteriorate, so some patients who do not have a refrigerator at home or patients who often go out dare not receive insulin treatment, thus delaying the condition.In fact, the so-called insulin should be kept in the refrigerator only refers to those insulin preparations that have not been opened for use and need to be stored for a long time. The suitable temperature for storage is generally 2℃~8℃, that is, in the refrigerator, not the freezer.For insulin that has been unpacked and used, it only needs to be placed in a cool and dry place at room temperature.Imagine that the human body temperature of 37℃ should be the most suitable temperature for insulin to function. For room temperature conditions of about 25℃, there is no need to worry about insulin denaturation and failure.On the contrary, the insulin taken out of the refrigerator should be warmed at room temperature to reduce the irritation of the cryogenic liquid to the body.Of course, it is safer to keep insulin in the refrigerator during the high temperature season.For families without refrigerators, insulin injections can be sealed and sunk into the bottom of the well for cryogenic preservation.Therefore, the refrigerator should not be an obstacle to the use of insulin therapy, or a reason for refusing to use insulin.