Half of people with type 2 diabetes are not prescribed any medication in the first year after diagnosis. Care providers prefer to start with lifestyle counseling first. Only if this has no effect can medication be started.
This is apparent from a recent study by Nivel Care Registries First Line. Patients who do start diabetes medication receive the first prescription on average seven weeks after diagnosis. Patients with severely elevated glucose levels start medication earlier than average. People with moderately elevated glucose levels just a little later.
dietician
It is striking that men with diabetes start taking medication earlier than women. Women with diabetes visit a dietitian earlier, but it has not been investigated whether that is also the reason that they start taking medication later. The studies also found that younger diabetic patients are more likely to start medication than older ones.
Nivel was commissioned by the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport to investigate the care that patients with type 2 diabetes receive from their general practitioner and dietician. The study is based on data from almost a thousand patients with type 2 diabetes from more than three hundred general practices and more than eighty dietetic practices that participate in Nivel Care Registries Primary Care.