Title – Alternative Medicine for the Treatment of Diabetes
Bhupesh Chandra Semwal 1* Sonia Singh1, Dr. Kalyani Divakar2
Introduction-Diabetes mellitus often referred to simply as diabetes. Diabetes is a syndrome characterized by disordered metabolism and abnormally high blood sugar, hyperglycemia resulting from insufficient levels of the hormone insulin. The world health organization recognizes three main forms of diabetes mellitus type1 type2 and gestational diabetes. Gestational diabetes occurring during pregnancy. Which have different causes and population distributions. While, ultimately, all forms are due to the beta cells of the pancreas being unable to produce sufficient insulin to prevent hyperglycemia, the causes are different. All types have been treatable since insulin became medically available in 1921. Type 1 diabetes, in which insulin is not secreted by the pancreas, is directly treatable only with injected insulin, although dietary and other lifestyle adjustments are part of management. Type 2 may be managed with a combination of dietary treatment, tablets and injections and, frequently, insulin supplementation. While insulin was originally produced from natural sources such as porcine pancreas, most insulin used today is produced through genetic engineering, either as a direct copy of human insulin, or human insulin with modified molecules that provide different onset and duration of action. Insulin can also be delivered continuously by a specialized pump which subcutaneously provides insulin through a changeable catheter1.
Classification of diabetes-
Type one diabetes mellitus
Type two diabetes mellitus
Gestational diabetes mellitus2
Signs and symptoms-
Frequent urination, Excessive thirst, Extreme hunger, unusual weight loss, Increased fatigue, Irritability, Blurry vision 3
Top Risk Factors for Type 2 Diabetes
An excessively high body weight increases diabetes risk. The Body Mass Index ( BMI) is a simple, widely accepted means of assessing body weight in relation to health for most people aged 20 to 65 (Exceptions include people who are very muscular, athletes, pregnant or nursing.) A BMI greater than 27 indicates a risk for developing type 2 diabetes and other health problems which include cardiovascular disease, and premature death.
Individuals who carry most of their weight in the trunk of their bodies (i.e., above the hips) tend to have a higher risk of diabetes than those of similar weight with a pear-shaped body (excess fat carried mainly in the hips and thighs). A waist measurement of more than 100 cm (39.5 inches) in men and 95 cm (37.5 inches) in women suggests an increased risk.
Being overweight – another risk factor for Type 2 – can be prevented by regular physical activity. A second, independent benefit of regular physical activity is improved blood sugar control in persons who already have type 2 diabetes.
Unhealthy Eating Habits
Ninety% of people who have been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes are overweight. Unhealthy eating contributes largely to obesity. Too much fat, not enough fiber, and too many simple carbohydrates all contribute to a diagnosis of diabetes. Eating right is can turn the diagnosis around and reverse or prevent Type 2.
Increased Age
It’s a sad but true fact. Age increases the risk of type 2 diabetes. The older we get, the greater our risk of type 2 diabetes. Even if an elderly person is thin, they still may be predisposed to getting diabetes. Scientists theorize that the pancreas ages right along with us, and doesn’t pump insulin as efficiently as it did when we were younger. Also, as our cells age, they become more resistant to insulin as well.
High Blood Pressure and High Cholesterol
High BP and high cholesterol are the hallmark risk factors for many diseases and conditions, including type 2 diabetes. More than 40 percent of people with diabetes have abnormal levels of cholesterol and similar fatty substances that circulate in the blood. These abnormalities appear to be associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease among persons with diabetes.
It appears that people who have family members who have been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes are at a greater risk for developing it themselves. African Americans, Hispanic-Americans and Native Americans all have a higher than normal rate of type 2 diabetes.
History of Diabetes in Pregnancy
Nearly 40 percent of the women who have diabetes during their pregnancy go on to develop type 2 diabetes later, usually within five to ten years of giving birth. Giving birth to a baby that weighs more than nine pounds (4 kg) is another symptom of gestational diabetes.
Impaired glucose tolerance or impaired fasting glucose can precede the development of type 2 diabetes. These conditions are determined through blood tests. While persons affected with these problems do not meet the diagnostic criteria for diabetes, their blood sugar control and reaction to sugar loads are considered to be abnormal. This places them at higher risk, not just for the development of type 2 diabetes (an estimated one in ten progress to type 2 diabetes within five years), but also for cardiovascular disease. For this group, preventive strategies including lifestyle changes and regular screening for diabetes mellitus must be a priority4.
Alternative medicine for treatment of diabetes-
Ginseng -Although there are several different types of ginseng, most of the promising studies on ginseng and diabetes have used North American ginseng (Panax quinquefolius). Those studies have shown that North American ginseng may improve blood sugar control and glycosylated hemoglobin (a form of hemoglobin in the blood used to monitor blood glucose levels over time) levels.
Chromium- Chromium is an essential trace mineral that plays an important role in carbohydrate and fat metabolism and helps body cells properly respond to insulin.
Magnesium- Magnesium is a mineral found naturally in foods such as green leafy vegetables, nuts, seeds, and whole grains and in nutritional supplements.Magnesium is needed for more than 300 biochemical reactions. It helps regulate blood sugar levels and is needed for normal muscle and nerve function, heart rhythm, immune function, blood pressure, and for bone health. Some studies suggest that low magnesium levels may worsen blood glucose control in type 2 diabetes. There is also some evidence that magnesium supplementation may help with insulin resistance.
Cinnamon-Cinnamon is a glycosides it improves blood glucose control in people with type 2 diabetes.
Zinc- The mineral zinc plays an important role in the production and storage of insulin. There is some research showing that people with type 2 diabetes have suboptimal zinc status due to decreased absorption and increased excretion of zinc. Food sources of zinc include fresh oysters, ginger root, lamb, pecans, split peas, egg yolk, rye, beef liver, lima beans, almonds, walnuts, sardines, chicken, and buckwheat.
Aloe Vera Gel-Although aloe vera gel is better known as a home remedy for minor burns and other skin conditions, recent animal studies suggest that aloe vera gel may help people with diabetes. A Japanese study evaluated the effect of aloe vera gel on blood sugar. Researchers isolated a number of active phytosterol compounds from the gel that were found to reduce blood glucose and glycosylated hemoglobin levels.
Gymnema- Several preliminary studies suggest that the herb gymnema can lower blood sugar levels in people with type 2 diabetes. Because gymnema may lower blood sugar levels, people taking medications for diabetes or using insulin shouldn’t take gymnema unless they are closely monitored by their health care provider
Vanadium-Vanadium is a trace mineral found naturally in soil and many foods. It is also produced during the burning of petroleum. Vanadium has been found to improve insulin sensitivity and reduce blood sugar in people with type 2 diabetes. It appears to mimic many of the actions of insulin in the body. The use of vanadium for diabetes, particularly without the supervision of a qualified health care practitioner, is not recommended, because the dose needed to affect blood glucose levels can be potentially toxic. The typical amount of vanadium found in the average diet (less than 30 micrograms per day) appears to have little toxicity5.
Neem- The leaves of Neem posses’ anti-diabetic properties. The juices of these leaves are helpful in controlling the blood sugar level in diabetics. Neem is in fact an herbal medicine used for the treatment of various other diseases also such as skin problems, warm infections, ulcer etc.
Sweet potato leaves- The leaves of sweet potato are high value in preventing diabetes, by lowering blood sugar level. It is highly nutritious vegetable. Preparation of sweet potato leaves is used in the tea of diabetic patients.
Madhuca- The Indian name for Madhuca is Madhua it is also posses’ excellent anti-diabetic properties and it is highly beneficial in treating raised blood sugar levels.
Mango leaves- The leaves of Mango helps in lowering the blood sugar levels in diabetics. The fresh leaves of mango are socked in water for an overnight. Then they are squeezed well in the water before filtering them in the morning6.
Discussion and Conclusion- Managements of diabetes with the agents devoid of any side effects is still challenge for the medical system. This has lead to increase in the demand for natural products with antihyperglycemic activity having fewer side effects. Metabolic imbalance causing diabetes mellitus is a characteristic of materialistic world. Differences in social structure, psychic stress, obesity, hormonal imbalance and heredity are optimizing the growth of pandemic. Increasing population with diabetes has a huge requirement of effective remediation. The vast variety of medicinal plants, which are used traditionally for their anti-diabetic property. However, careful assessment including sustainability of such herbs, ecological and seasonal variation in activity of phyto-constituents, metal contents of crude herbal anti-diabetic drugs, thorough toxicity study and cost effectiveness is required for their popularity. These efforts may provide treatment for all and justify the role of novel traditional medicinal plants having anti-diabetic potentials.
References
http://www.diabetesmellitus-information.com/diabetes_herbs.htm
http://www.umm.edu/ency/article/002072.htm
http://www.diabetes.org/diabetes-symptoms.jsp
http://www.phac-aspc.gc.ca/ccdpc-cpcmc/diabetes-diabete/english/risk/index.html
http://altmedicine.about.com/cs/conditionsatod/a/Diabetes.htm
http://www.diabetesmellitus-information.com/diabetes_treatment.htm
18 Responses to “Title – Alternative Medicine for the Treatment of Diabetes”
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how much sugar does that margarita have? how many calories?
June 26th, 2010 at 4:59 amIt sounds like hypoglycemia to me.
Your brains’ primary source of food is glucose and oxygen. We can’t store much of either so when your body feels it is low on glucose you get the fight or flight response. It’s basically your body saying, DO SOMETHING NOW!!! So when your blood sugar gets low you feel hungry, you get all nervous and shaky, start sweating, you can feel your heart pounding; you NEED food. If you don’t get that food, your brain starts getting starved, so it starts shutting down, some people more gradually than others. Some get sleepy, some just faint. This is an emergency, Call 911; get some juice, syrup, sugar, anything.But NEVER try to pour juice or food into the mouth of an unconscious person!! This could cause them to choke. Use syrup or sugar and rub into their cheek but call 911!
Try eating small meals with (around) the same amounts of protein, fat and carbs. Aim for 6 small meals a day. Carry around some M&M's or other small candy so if you start to feel bad, you can eat a few while you try to get some "real" food.
High blood sugar has symptoms of…Polyphagia (frequently hungry), Polyuria (frequently urinating), Polydipsia (frequently thirsty), Blurred vision, Fatigue, Weight loss, Poor wound healing, Dry mouth, Dry or itchy skin, Impotence, Recurrent infections.
I would ask your MD for some blood work; a normal range for a non-diabetic person varies from lab to lab but a general guideline is 60-120. If you are going by the hemoglobin A1c test, a non-diabetic patient should be less than 8% and to reduce the risk of complications from heart disease, kidney disease or anything else, a diabetic patient should keep their level below 7%. The A1c can show your MD what your blood sugar has been running over the past 2-3 months.
Good luck to you.
June 26th, 2010 at 5:16 amthis is very helpful movie
June 26th, 2010 at 5:45 amHi there…in order to confirm if a cat has diabetes there needs to be a blood glucose test done from your vet. If the blood sugar is elevated the vet will then be able to give you the appropriate course of care for the cat. Here are a few website articles on feline diabetes mellitus:
June 26th, 2010 at 6:11 amhttp://www.sniksnak.com/cathealth/diabetes.html
http://www.thecatsite.com/Health/83/Feline-Diabetes.html
http://www.felinediabetes.com/newdiag.htm
http://www.netpets.com/cats/reference/diabetes.html
This video is sponsored by a drug company…LOL
June 26th, 2010 at 7:52 pmif we talk about nutrition in a shallow way what do we achieve? Once again Drug industry Propiganda
In both the types of diabetes, signs and symptoms are more likely to be similar as the blood sugar is high, either due to less production of insulin, or no production or insulin resistance. In any of the case if there is inadequate glucose in the cells, it can be identified through certain signs and symptoms. These symptoms are quickly relieved once the Diabetes is treated and also reduce the chances of developing serious health problems.
Diabetes Type 1:
In type 1, the pancreas stop producing insulin, due to autuimmune response or possibly viral attack on pancreas. In absence of insulin, body cells does not get glucose for producing ATP (Adenosin Triphosphate) units which results into primary symptom in the form of nausea and vomiting. In latter stage which leads to ketoacidosis in which body starts breaking down muscle tissue and fat for energy, there is consequently fast weight loss. Dehydration is also usually observed due to electrolyte disturbance. In advance stages even coma and death, are being witnessed.
Diabetes Type 2:
Increased fatigue : Due to inefficiency of cell to metabolise glucose, reserve fat of body is metabolised to gain energy. When fat is broken down in the body, it uses more energy as compared to glucose, hence body goes in negative calorie effect, which results in fatigue.
Polydipsia : As the concentration of glucose increases in the blood, brain receives signal for diluting it and in its counteraction we feel thirsty.
Polyuria: Increase in urine production is the result seen when excess of glucose is present in body. Body tries to get rid of the extra sugar in the blood by excreting it through the urine. This can also lead to dehydration because excreting the sugar which carries a large amount of water out of the body along with it.
Polyphegia : The hormone insulin is also responsible for stimulating hunger. In order to cope up with high sugar levels in blood, body produces insulin which leads to increased hunger.
Weight flactuation : Factors like loss of water (polyuria), glucosuria , metabolism of body fat and protein may lead to loss of weight. Few cases may show weight gain due to increased appetite.
Blurry vision : Hyperosmolar hyperglycemia nonketotic syndrome is the condition when body fluid is pulled out of tissues including lenses of eye, which affects the ability of lenses to focus resulting in blurry vision.
Irritability : It is one of the sign of high blood sugar because of the inefficient supply of glucose to brain and other body organs, which makes us feel tired and uneasy.
Infections : Certain signals from the body is given whenever there is fluctuation of blood sugar (due to suppression of immune system) by frequent infections of fungal or bacterial like skin infection or UTI (urinary tract infection).
Poor wound healing : High blood sugar resists the flourishing of WBC, (white blood cell) which are responsible for body immune system. When these cells do not function accordingly, wound healing is not at good pace. Secondly, long standing diabetes leads to thickening of blood vessels which may affect proper circulation of blood in different body parts.
June 26th, 2010 at 11:51 pmA lot of times certain diabetic medicines make your skin more susceptible to burns when being in the sun, and when your diabetic it takes a lot longer for your blood to clot when you get a scratch or a sore. Since it takes longer for these things to heal you also become more open to infections and etc.
June 27th, 2010 at 4:13 amMy eleven year old daughter has type 1 diabetes. She was diagnosed at the age of 8. She has been on the insulin pump for 2 1/2 years. Her daily routine starts with testing when she first awakens (about 6:30), followed by breakfast. She enters her blood glucose (BG) and the number of carbs she will eat into the pump and it calculates how much insulin she needs to cover these. At 10:00am she tests again to see if her number is good and either corrects (through the pump) or has a snack to elevate her BG if she is a little low.
June 27th, 2010 at 7:16 amShe tests again at lunchtime (about 11:45) and repeats the process from breakfast. She tests a 4th time after school, (3:00ish) to see where her BG is. If she is participating in an after school sport she will need a snack to keep her BG up with the extra activity. At dinner time (roughly 6:00) she will repeat the testing and enter into the pump her BG and carbs. She tests for the 6th and last time (usually) at bedtime.
The pump holds insulin in a tube called a resevoir and delivers the insulin through a tube to a canula called an infusion set that is inserted under the skin of her abdomen area. The infusion set and resevoir need to be changed every 2-3 days and is done at home by me.
She sees her pediatric endocronoligist every 3 months for an HbA1c test, height/weight etc and to monitor how well she is managing her BG.
This is our typical daily routine. Which is subject to change at any time as her BG is affected by: an increase in physical activity, illness, stress, problem with the pump or set, etc etc
I became a Reliv distributor because I got great results with GlucAffect. I dropped from 295 mg to 90 mg.. and I lost weight on top of that. Check it out. It is breakthrough product with clinical studies to back it up. email me for that info.
June 27th, 2010 at 2:28 pmexcellent worker!
June 27th, 2010 at 3:54 pmMy husband, Richard is a type 2 for the past 15 years. Due to his high BG and high blood pressure. The main concern is Bg which is at 200. After much pursuasion, I ask him to quit his highly stressful job as a hotelier. I help monitor his his diet, low carb, moderate exercise in the garden and reduce stress. It does not reduce his BG. Our friend, Joey suggested us to try as supplement, Dbethics which has helped many to reduce their BG. I was not interested but later decided to try. After
about 10 days my BG drop to 105 and I went to see my endocrynologist who advised me to reduce my insulin
by 5 units in the morning and another 5 units in the evening.
After 2 months I did my HBA1C tests and was amazed that
June 27th, 2010 at 9:54 pmit has drop by 3 points. My doctor is equally surprised and
has requested me to continue to monitor my Bg closely. Hope it can help you.
Very informative
June 28th, 2010 at 3:10 amprobally when your blood drops too low that can cause blurred vision. the symptoms are similar. this is the opposit fo diabetes. but yes it can turn into diabetes.
June 28th, 2010 at 11:43 amThe dietitian is fat herself-they all usually are.
June 28th, 2010 at 1:26 pmvery well done
June 29th, 2010 at 4:23 amdr laura
Eating before the blood test will cause your blood sugar to go higher. So for many people they'll eat breakfast and have honey, sugar in the coffee, etc and test borderline for diabetes – then have to go back and re-do it as a fasting blood sugar to get a better reading.
So if I were you would not eat before it at all — or if you have to have very low carbs, sugar, etc.
Also, if you WERE to have diabetes, it is against the law to fire you for this. You would be covered under the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA). So try not to worry about that.
Good luck!
June 29th, 2010 at 8:31 amThis women is clueless.
June 29th, 2010 at 9:24 amHello, The amount of carbohydrate foods (carbs) recommended for a person with diabetes varies with nutrient needs, physical activity, weight goals, and other lifestyle measures. For someone maintaining a healthy weight on1400 calories, he or she may eat around 45-60 grams per meal, with 3 meals each day. Physical activity, work/school schedules, and medications may influence the amount of carbs recommended and how the carbs are distributed throughout the day. Additional carbs may be required for intensive physical activity levels. Consistency and portion control are key for blood glucose control. The goal is to achieve and maintain target blood glucose (sugar) levels throughout the day
June 29th, 2010 at 2:12 pm