01/04/2019 / By RJ Jhonson
The world continues to reel from the growing epidemic that is diabetes. Although the disease is being controlled with the aid of chemical medications, these drugs are not without side effects, prompting researchers to look into natural yet effective alternatives. A study investigated the efficacy of Helicteres angustifolia, a plant popularly used in Chinese medicine, in treating insulin resistance, one of the causes of Type 2 diabetes.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that more than 29 million people have diabetes in the U.S. alone. About one in four of these individuals don’t even know they have the disease. Close to 90 million have prediabetes, a stage marked by elevated blood sugar levels and a significant risk of developing Type 2 diabetes.
Unlike Type 1 diabetes, which is characterized by the inability to produce sufficient insulin, if at all, Type 2 diabetes happens because the body does not respond to insulin well. Insulin is a hormone produced in the pancreas that causes the cells of the body to absorb glucose from food and lower the concentration of sugar in the blood.
People with Type 2 diabetes develop insulin resistance. This happens when the body’s cells do not respond as well as they normally do to insulin, impairing their ability to absorb glucose. As a result, the pancreas has to produce more and more insulin just to normalize blood sugar levels. Reversing insulin resistance and enhancing the cells’ glucose uptake are among the ways by which experts believe Type 2 diabetes can best be addressed.
The study was published in Pharmaceutical Biology.
As a medicinal herb, H. angustifolia is used as a treatment for cancer, bacterial infections, inflammation, and flu. The researchers decided to investigate if the herb can treat diabetes as well.
They treated three types of cells with different concentrations of H. angustifolia ethanol extract. A diabetic mouse model was used to determine the extract’s effects in vivo. According to the researchers’ analysis, the treatment successfully enhanced the glucose uptake of all the cells tested. In mice, the treatment lowered the animals’ blood glucose levels, among other biomarkers, while increasing the levels of proteins and high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol.
Because of these findings, the researchers concluded that H. angustifolia root ethanol extract has powerful antidiabetic activity.
Lifestyle plays a crucial factor in the development and progress of Type 2 diabetes. Here are tips on how to effectively manage the disease:
Be updated on the latest news about diabetes at DiabetesScienceNews.com.
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Tagged Under:
alternative medicine, diabetes, glucose uptake, Helicteres angustifolia, herbal medicine, insulin resistance, insulin sensitivity, natural cures, natural medicine
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