Health and Medicine Media

Several traditional Chinese herbs would control the blood sugar when the risk of diabetes is high, suggests a new study.

The review of 16 clinical trials of 15 herbal formulas the herbs showed reduced levels of blood sugar in people with “prediabetes,” which are those with impaired glucose control can become type 2 diabetes. When the researchers gathered data from eight of these studies found that adding an herbal remedy to lifestyle changes doubled the likelihood of normalizing the blood sugar levels.

Moreover, people who had used the remedies were two thirds less likely to develop diabetes during the study, which lasted about 9 months.

The findings are published in the Cochrane Library, Cochrane Collaboration, an international organization that evaluates medical research. For authors, the results are “quite promising.” But they cautioned that the studies had some methodological biases, preventing firm conclusions.

“There are many herbal remedies on the shelves, but few were subjected to a rigorous test,” he told Reuters Health via e-mail the author of the study, Suzanne J. Grant, Center for Complementary Medicine Research at the University of Western Sydney in Australia.

Many of the trials analyzed, explained, were “high risk of bias” that might overestimate the effects of therapies. So, he added, is more rigorous trials necessary before recommending the use of herbal medicines to prevent diabetes.

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Abnormal thirst and dry mouth, frequent urination, extreme tiredness / lack of energy, constant appetite, sudden weight loss, slow wound healing, recurrent, blurred vision…

The same symptoms listed above may also affect type 2 diabetes, but usually the symptoms are less obvious. The emergence of type 2 diabetes is gradual and therefore difficult to detect. In fact, some people with type 2 diabetes show no symptoms evident at first. They tend to be diagnosed several years later, when various complications are already present.

Threatening complications:

Without adequate production and action of insulin, glucose stays in the blood, causing chronic hyperglycemia (high blood sugar). This can cause complications in the short and long term, many of which, if not prevented and treated, can be fatal. All have the potential to reduce the quality of life of people with diabetes and their families.

The most common complications in the long term are:

Diabetic nephropathy (kidney disease), which can lead to total kidney failure and the need for dialysis or kidney transplantation.

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A test that detects blood sugar levels over a period of several weeks not only is the best way to diagnose diabetes but could identify with greater precision than the standard approach who is at risk of contracting it, investigators said.

In a study involving over 11,000 people with no history of diabetes, hemoglobin A1c test more accurately determined who would develop the disease compared with glucose testing, which measures blood sugar levels at a point in the time.

The A1c test was also able to better predict the risk of stroke (CVA), heart disease and death from diabetes, the researchers report in the New England Journal of Medicine.

The team found that people who had A1c levels of 6 percent or more were at greater risk of developing diabetes.

“The A1c has significant advantages over blood glucose test,” said Dr. Elizabeth Selvin from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore and leader of the study.

The blood sugar levels can vary from day to day and from hour to hour.

The A1c test is more reliable, repeatable and allows doctors to follow the average glucose levels over time. The quantities are not affected by stress and disease and patients do not have to fast before the test, as with glucose, the researchers said.

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Incoming search terms:

Diabetes is a chronic disease that occurs as a result of problems in the production and supply of insulin in the body. This hormone is produced in the pancreas and helps the “sugar” (glucose) to leave the bloodstream to enter body cells to be used as an energy source.

It may be the case that the body does not produce enough insulin, which is when the diabetes is type 1, or can not use it produces, that is when there is type 2 diabetes.

Type 1 diabetes, which is also known as insulin dependent diabetes, immune or juvenile home, is the result of an autoimmune reaction, in which the body’s defense system attacks insulin-producing cells. People with this type of diabetes produce very little or no insulin injections they need every day and thus control the blood glucose levels. Type 1 diabetes can affect people of any age but usually occurs mainly in children or young adults.

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During normal pregnancy metabolic adaptations occur, aimed at correcting the imbalance that occurs when you need a higher nutritive supply to the fetus. One of these imbalances is that the body needs more insulin delivery to require a greater use of glucose.

Clear evidence of this shift is experienced by all pregnant women, who usually notice the morning the unpleasant symptoms of hypoglycemia: nausea, drowsiness, tiredness, weakness, etc..

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