Preventing diabetes:problems and prospects / 中华中医药杂志

ABSTRACT

The prevalence of diabetes is reaching epidemic proportions worldwide.Elevated glucose levels and associated increases in blood pressure and dyslipidemia lead to long-term complications including cardiovascular disease,diabetic retinopathy,kidney disease,and nervous system damage.These complications are largely responsible for the great increase in morbidity and mortality seen in diabetes.Unfortunately,once established,diabetes is very diffi cult to treat,and it is currently exerting tremendous pressure on healthcare systems worldwide.For these reasons,diabetes prevention has become a key target for clinicians,patients and policymakers,and a number of potential strategies are under study.The purpose of this article is fi rst to discuss the defi ciency of current preventing strategies,and the potential role and the advantages of Traditional Chinese Medicine(TCM) to prevent diabetes.Following that,based on observational studies as well as on prospective trials,and with respect to the prevention and treatment of diabetes,the authors,therefore,suggest that the best way to approach prevention is through lifestyle modification guided by TCM theory.And those interventions should include not only herbs,but acupuncture,massage,food therapy and mind-body exercise,and they must examine cost-effectiveness as well.Future studies should also be designed with using such interventions and should be of suff icient duration to differentiate between genuine diabetes prevention as opposed to simple delay or masking of the disease.