The options for initial insulin therapy for diabetics can be the commonly used long-acting basal insulin therapy, or premixed insulin therapy, so which one to choose for what situation, or what are the advantages and disadvantages? Here is the question. 1. Long-acting basal insulin initiation therapy Advantages: (1) simple and easy to implement, only 1 injection per day, good compliance; (2) better control of blood glucose throughout the night, especially fasting blood glucose, and thus strengthen the effect of oral hypoglycemic drugs during the daytime, and thus achieve good control of blood glucose throughout the day; (3) low risk of hypoglycemia (especially nighttime hypoglycemia), high drug safety. Disadvantages: (1) poor control of postprandial glucose; (2) less effective than premixed insulin in patients with poor islet function and high baseline glycated hemoglobin (>9%). Advantages: (1) can take care of both basal and postprandial blood glucose, overall glycemic control (especially for postprandial blood glucose) is better, especially for patients with high HbA1c (>9%) and poor β-cell function, it is easier to reach the target than basal insulin treatment; (2) the cost of treatment is relatively low (compared with long-acting insulin analogs). Disadvantages: (1) relatively high risk of nocturnal hypoglycemia; (2) usually requires two injections per day in the morning and two injections per day in the evening (of course, it can also be injected once or thrice per day, depending on the circumstances), and treatment compliance is not as good as that of basal insulin regimen.