Claimed effect · Insulin

Does Insulin help with microvascular complications?

A
Grade A — established in humans1 large RCT (UKPDS 33, n=3,867, 10 yr) · effect size: moderate
Short answerEstablished in humans. 1 large RCT (UKPDS 33, n=3,867, 10 yr) point the same way: a moderate effect. Intensive glucose control with insulin or a sulphonylurea cut microvascular endpoints by 25% over ten years in newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes; the effect on heart attacks and deaths did not reach significance in the main trial, though it emerged in the ten-year follow-up.

What the studies show

Intensive glucose control with insulin or a sulphonylurea cut microvascular endpoints by 25% over ten years in newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes; the effect on heart attacks and deaths did not reach significance in the main trial, though it emerged in the ten-year follow-up.

“Most of the risk reduction in the any diabetes-related aggregate endpoint was due to a 25% risk reduction (7-40, p=0.0099) in microvascular endpoints, including the need for retinal photocoagulation.”

Verbatim, from the abstractUK Prospective Diabetes Study (UKPDS) Group. Intensive blood-glucose control with sulphonylureas or insulin compared with conventional treatment and risk of complications in patients with type 2 diabetes (UKPDS 33). Lancet, 1998;352:837–853

Several well-run randomised trials in people, pointing the same way. You can plan around this. It still says nothing about whether the effect is worth the side effects for you.

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In context

Insulin is the 51-amino-acid hormone that lets cells take up glucose; recombinant human insulin and its engineered analogues are the treatment for type 1 diabetes and a mainstay of type 2. The landmark trials are settled: intensive insulin therapy cut new diabetic eye disease by 76% over six and a half years in the DCCT, and intensive glucose control reduced microvascular complications by a quarter over ten years in UKPDS. The cost, quantified in the same trials, is severe hypoglycaemia. It is on this site as the reference peptide, and because it is on WADA's list.

Insulin is approved (rx). Legal status differs by country — see the regulation section or the jurisdiction pages.

Questions

Is Insulin proven to help with microvascular complications?
Yes, as far as human trials can show it: 1 large RCT (UKPDS 33, n=3,867, 10 yr). LYO grades this outcome A.
What studies are behind the grade?
Intensive glucose control with insulin or a sulphonylurea cut microvascular endpoints by 25% over ten years in newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes; the effect on heart attacks and deaths did not reach significance in the main trial, though it emerged in the ten-year follow-up.
Is Insulin approved for this?
Insulin is an approved medicine (Approved (Rx)); whether this particular outcome is a licensed indication is stated on the compound page's regulation section.

Other outcomes for Insulin

Written and maintained by LYO Research — how pages are written and checked. Reviewed 7 October 2026. Grades count human evidence only; see how LYO grades. Not medical advice. Correct this page →