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Chinese herbs and diabetes prevention

A number of traditional Chinese herbs may help control blood sugar levels in people at high risk of diabetes.

Chinese herbs and diabetes prevention

A number of traditional Chinese herbs may help control blood sugar levels in people at high risk of diabetes.

Around 308 million people worldwide are estimated to have impaired glucose tolerance (IGT); 25% to 75% of these will develop diabetes within a decade of initial diagnosis. There are a lot of herbal medicine products on the shelves, but few have been subjected to a rigorous trial. To assess the effects and safety of Chinese herbal medicines for the treatment of people with impaired glucose tolerance or impaired fasting glucose (IFG), researchers analysed a number of database including The Cochrane Library, PubMed, EMBASE, AMED, a range of Chinese language databases, SIGLE and databases of ongoing trials. The researchers reviewed 16 clinical trials that compared Chinese herbal medicines with placebo, no treatment, pharmacological or non-pharmacological interventions in people with IGT or IFG.

The studies included a total of 1,391 men and women with either impaired glucose tolerance or impaired fasting glucose - problems in blood-sugar control that lead to sugar levels that are elevated, but not high enough to diagnose diabetes. The studies tested various Chinese herbal mixes traditionally used for blood-sugar control - products like Jiang tang, Bu shen, Xiaoke, Huayu and Tang Kang Yin. In most trials, the products were added to lifestyle changes and tested against the effects of lifestyle changes alone -- though the specific changes were not detailed in most reports.

It was found that the herbs generally helped lower blood sugar levels in people with "pre-diabetes" - those with impaired blood-sugar control that can progress to full-blown type 2 diabetes. When the researchers pooled data from eight of the studies, they found that adding an herbal remedy to lifestyle changes doubled the likelihood of participants' blood sugar levels returning to normal. Moreover, people using the remedies were two-thirds less likely to progress to diabetes during the studies, which ran for an average of nine months. The review found no serious side effects attributed to the herbal products.

The researchers suggested that if people with pre-diabetes do want to try an herbal product, they must first consult their doctor as herbs are recommended based on individuals' unique situations, and not as a one-size-fits-all prescription.

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