Can complementary therapies be a substitute for insulin injections, asks Peta Bee

After heart disease and cancer, the condition that affects the UK population the most is diabetes. One in 30 people suffers from it and it is the country’s third highest cause of death. It is also on the increase. By 2010, current figures are likely to have doubled and everyone will know someone who is taking measures to control their blood sugar levels. Most diabetics will have been diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes, which means that their bodies have become resistant to insulin, the hormone responsible for preventing blood-sugar levels from rising too high. About 10 per cent will have Type 1, which usually starts in younger people and in which the beta cells in the pancreas stop producing insulin because they are attacked and are slowly destroyed by the body’s immune system. Treatment for both types centers on restoring the control of blood sugars, which is usually achieved through dietary change and oral drugs with Type 2, but otherwise through insulin injections. With this conventional approach, diabetes can be controlled, allowing a normal life. However, concerns about reported side effects, as well as a general shift towards complementary treatments, have led to a sharp rise in the numbers of diabetics seeking alternative treatments. Four years ago a paper presented to the Medical and Scientific section of the British Diabetic Association (now Diabetes UK) showed that, of a random sample of 246 patients, nearly a fifth had tried complementary therapy. Sinead Dunne, one of the charity’s nurses, says that promises made by some manufacturers and scare stories about the side-effects of some drugs have led to an increased demand for information about herbal and nutritional treatments. But abandoning medication can be dangerous. Some herbal remedies marketed for blood sugar control have been condemned in the US. In February last year the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) withdrew five Chinese herbal products which contained two-prescription diabetes drugs, one of which? Phenoformin? Was banned 20 years ago. Simon O-eill, the head of care developments at Diabetes UK, says: “here is no cure for Type 1 diabetes and people with the condition need insulin to survive. We strongly advise anyone with the condition not to stop or reduce his or her medication without medical direction”A flurry of interest has led to several studies, and one trace mineral that appears to offer some benefit is chromium, found naturally in wholegrain, cheese and nuts. One of its main roles is to help insulin to transport blood sugar into muscle cells. A review of studies by Dr Richard Anderson of the US Department of Agriculture, in the Journal of the American College of Nutrition, found that more than 25 research papers reported positive benefits from using chromium in the treatment of the condition. Taking 200mcg two to three times a day was generally considered to improve blood sugar levels. Other studies have shown that vitamin B3, or niacin, further assists chromium in making the GTF (glucose tolerance factor) compound. If you are eating a balanced diet you are unlikely to be low in chromium,"says O-eill. At present it is recommended that a supplement is needed only if a deficiency has been diagnosed.Dried ginseng root is also attracting attention in the medical world. Canadian scientists from the University of Toronto recently carried out a trial on 23 people with Type 2 diabetes, who were asked to continue with their usual diet and exercise programmes while taking 3g of American ginseng, or a placebo, each day for eight days. The results were firmly in favor of ginseng, which appeared to reduce blood sugar by 20 per cent more than the placebo pills. Ginseng could be a useful addition to conventional diabetes treatment,"says Professor Vladimir Vuksan, who led the study. Other exotic plants have produced similarly positive results. At Creighton University in the US, researchers are testing the Indian herb gymnema, which has been linked anecdotally to improvements in diabetes control, but has rarely been the subject of trials on human beings. Taken either as a powdered leaf or in capsule form, gymnema is said to block excessively high blood sugar by boosting insulin levels. The results of the study will be published next summer. Meanwhile, findings of a Danish study, published in the journal Metabolism last year, showed that stevia, or sweet leaf could help to lower raised blood sugar levels by spurring the production of insulin. The herb, native to South America, contains a compound called stevioside, which makes it taste 300 times sweeter than sugar, and it is thought to be the active ingredient. The growing trend for alternative treatments brings with it the inevitable success stories. Last year a patient at the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital in London made an apparently miraculous recovery from the incurable Type 1 diabetes, with the help of a Chinese herbalist. Tony York, 42, claims he took herbal tablets daily and underwent acupressure and acupuncture. However, O-eill doubts that such reports are accurate. In true Type 1 diabetes, no complementary or traditional therapy can make the body produce more insulin because the insulin-producing cells have been destroyed,"he says. It is possible that there is a honeymoon period just after diagnosis, where the amount of insulin needed is reduced or is not necessary at all, but eventually the injections must be resumed.

(From The Times)