Type 2 diabetes significantly increases a person’s risk of developing multiple health complications, but the risk of these complications can be significantly reduced with modern, comprehensive diabetes care. This care is inherently complex because of its use of multiple medications in conjunction with lifestyle changes in diet, exercise, and blood glucose self-monitoring. Over the course of a person’s life with diabetes, the medication regimen typically grows more complex as the need for multiple glucose-lowering medications, including insulin, increases in order to maintain glucose levels at recommended targets. Elbert Huang reports on a recent study examining the quality-of-life effects of demanding diabetes care regimens on people with the condition and identifies some important lessons to improve practice.