ABSTRACT
So far, the major therapeutic drugs of diabetes are western medicine , but side effects of hypoglycemic western med-icine are large and not easy to take for a long time .In recent years , we found the side effects of some kind of hypoglycemic Chinese herbal medicine were small , much easier to be accepted by the patients .Thus, the clinical treatment of diabetes may have new meth-ods.According to the mechanisms of Traditional Chinese Medicine for protection of islet function , this review will discuss them from re-ducing oxidative stress , increasing the number of islet cells and promoting βcells to secrete, relieving insulin resistance , increasing in-sulin sensitivity and so on .All of these aspects reflect the unique role of Traditional Chinese Medicine in the treatment of diabetes and protection of islet function .