Hi Dermot,
I strongly suspect that the majority of type 2s who have followed their doctor's advice about diet will have struggled to gain any control over their blood sugars and most likely will end up on insulin after 7 years. It becomes a self fulfilling prophesy.
If you look at just about every person on this website who has reported good BS control they all have one of two things in common. They have been told by their GP or a dietician to reduce their carb intake, or they have discovered for themselves that a reduction in carbs works. And before you switch off, I am not talking about low-carbing!!
I said, and I meant, a reduction in carbs. How much of a reduction will be very different for everyone. Some may find that they have no option but to drop to below 50g carbs per day, but most people don't need to go anywhere near that low. A low GI diet is another alternative because this is generally lower in total carbs, but those that you do eat are slower to convert to glucose, so don't overload the pancreas. If you can find a diet at which you can maintain BS control, then there is no reason why you should ever need to resort to insulin, unless your pancreas gives up the fight.
And of course, by reducing the amount of carbs we eat, we are also reducing the strain on the pancreas to keep producing high amounts of insulin. So you also help to ensure that your pancreas doesn't burn out.
I am a type 2, first diagnosed in 2002, so I should be just about ready for insulin any time now. But instead I have an HBA1C of 5.7 and maintain pretty much non-diabetic BS levels with no difficulty. And I have no intention of ever going on to insulin as long as I can keep at these levels as easily as I currently do.