Type 2 diabetes is the most common form of diabetes, and can occur at any time of life...
unlike type 1 diabetes, which typically occurs in the young.
Type 2 diabetes often develops in people who have a genetic predisposition, but usually requires other triggers in order for it to occur...
certain medicines, excessive weight gain, lack of exercise, and so on.
Once it has been triggered, however, type 2 diabetes has many of the same effects as type 1.
If untreated, eventually it will develop to the point where it can cause blindness, heart damage, and damage to the feet that can even lead to their amputation, among other serious problems.
The question naturally arises...
since it is often triggered by non-genetic factors, can correcting those factors allow someone to treat their type 2 diabetes without resorting to medications? Medications are expensive and can have unpleasant side effects of their own, including water retention that may cause swelling of the legs.
The answer is:

• Type 2 diabetes can frequently be treated without medications, but in some cases it cannot
• The non-medicinal treatments may be effective at first, but become less so with time

Non-Medicinal Diabetes Treatment: Assuming type 2 diabetes does not result from a medication, then it may be possible to control it using three methods:

• Exercise...
  type 2 is often associated with a lack of sufficient exercise; the body stops functioning properly because it is not stimulated enough.
  Getting more exercise will cause body chemistry to return to a more normal balance, and may help to alleviate the inability of the body to properly metabolize glucose.
  It will also contribute to losing weight, or maintaining a healthy weight once extra body mass has been shed
• Weight loss...
  obesity is one of the leading causes of type 2 diabetes, and the presence of a certain number of fat cells in the body often seems to be enough to tip the system over into a diabetic reaction.
  Reducing fat can often halt the progress entirely
• Diet...
  eating a low-GI diet is vital to treating type 2 diabetes, as is eating certain types of food.
  Fibrous fruits and vegetables, high-quality protein such as lean meat, fish, and chicken breasts, and milk or other low-fat dairy products, all seem to actively counteract the advance of this disease in many diabetics

Caution with Non-Medicinal Treatments: Although non-medicinal treatments are a very attractive concept, and are the better option if they actually work.
Take care so as not to endanger your health or survival for the sake of avoiding medicine.
Several medical examinations, at a minimum, should be conducted at the start of a non-medicinal diabetes treatment program.
These examinations will give concrete proof of whether the medicine-free approach is actually working, or whether medicine is needed after all.
If the medicine-free treatment regime is failing to work, it is much better to catch this early.
Additional medical exams should be carried out periodically as well, ensuring that the treatment is still working.
Considering the benefits of treating type 2 diabetes without drugs, the attempt is generally well worth it.