About 90 years after using insulin on millions of patients across the globe, doctors have now found that insulin works no better than other anti-glycaemic medicine taken orally. Contrary to popular medical belief, insulin does not prevent heart diseases or deaths related to cardiovascular issues. On this count, the impact of insulin is just like that of anti-glycaemic tablets taken by diabetics.
The pioneering research covering 40 nations, lasting seven years and involving 12,500 patients, including some from Hyderabad, has shown that insulin “has no statistically significant positive or negative impact on cardiovascular outcomes versus standard care”. Simply put this means that insulin works no better than oral tablets when it comes to the protection of the heart.
However, on the positive side, the study revealed that people with pre-diabetes would benefit a lot from using insulin, as it would reduce the progression of pre-diabetes to type 2 diabetes in about 28 per cent of patients. Use of insulin will not lead to cancers, and long-acting insulin is not harmful for diabetics. Moreover, insulin helps to bring down the sugar levels in patients who do not respond to oral tablets, and those requiring surgery.
The international study called Origin (outcome reduction with initial glargine intervention) centred on the use of insulin glargine injection. The study was sponsored by the pharmaceutical company Sanofi which incidentally does produce insulin. Two diabetes experts — Dr P.V. Rao of the Nims, and Dr Bipin Kumar Sethi of Gandhi Medical College and Hospital — were part of the international team. Diabetics can now safely take long-acting insulin. instead of multiple doses of short-acting insulin.