Alternative medicines commonly used in Turkey to treat diabetes

Alternative medicines are commonly used by patients with diabetes in Turkey, according to a survey report published in the Nov 22, 2010 issue of Western Journal of Nursing Research.

The survey of 396 diabetes patients conducted between October 2006 and March 2007 showed 34.6 percent of the diabetic patients were using complementary and alternative medicines in addition to conventional medicine.

The survey also found 73 percent of these patients had not informed their physicians and nurses about their use of alternative medicines.

Authors of the report Küçükgüçlü O and colleagues from Dokuz Eylul University said nurses should not ignore complementary and alternative medicine and they should learn more about these medicines and educate their patients.

The U.S. National Institutes of Health says there is no enough scientific evidence to prove that alternative medicines benefit type 2 diabetes or its complications.

The agency says alternative medicines should not be used to replace conventional medical therapy for diabetes and patients should inform health care providers of their use of alternative medicines.

Some dietary supplements that may benefit diabetes patients include alpha-lipoic acid, chromium, omega-3 fatty acids, polyphenols, garlic, magnesium, coenzyme Q10, ginseng, botanicals like prickly pear cactus, gurmar, coccinia indica, aloe vera, fenufreek and bitter melon.

Some studies reported on foodconsumer.org showed a modified diet may benefit patients with type 2 diabetes. 

http://nccam.nih.gov/health/diabetes/CAM-and-diabetes.htm

(DL)