Study author Dr. Elbert Huang of the University of Chicago said healthcare providers who care for patients with a chronic disease like diabetes focus on preventing long-term complications like blindness of amputation, but a typical diabetes patient takes many medications each day, a daily aspirin to prevent blood clots, plus diet and exercise.

As the disease progresses, the drugs increase and often include insulin shots, Huang added.

Huang and colleagues conducted face-to-face interviews with a multi-ethnic sample of 701 adult, type-2 diabetes patients attending Chicago area clinics from May 2004 to May 2006 about treatments and diabetes-associated complications.

Patients were asked to express their preferences in a series of trade-offs.

The study, published in the October issue of Diabetes Care, found on average, patients ranked the burden of comprehensive diabetes care and intensive glucose control as equal to the burden of angina, diabetic nerve damage or kidney damage. Between 10 percent to18 percent of patients were willing to give up 8 of 10 years of healthy life to avoid life with treatments, the study found.