Alternative therapies are treatments that are neither widely taught in medical schools nor widely practiced in hospitals. Alternative treatments that have been studied to manage diabetes include acupuncture, biofeedback, guided imagery, and vitamin and mineral supplementation. The success of some alternative treatments can be hard to measure. Many alternative treatments remain either untested or unproven through traditional scientific studies.

Alternative therapies may be useful in helping you focus on the need to take care of your diabetes as well as improving emotional health. It must be stressed that this alone can't replace the need for proper diet, exercise, and medical supervision of your diabetes. There is not magic cure that will make your diabetes go away.

Acupuncture

Acupuncture is a procedure in which a practitioner inserts needles into designated points on the skin. Some Western scientists believe that acupuncture triggers the release of the body's natural painkillers. Acupuncture has been shown to offer relief from chronic pain. Acupuncture is sometimes used by people with neuropathy, the painful nerve damage of diabetes.

Biofeedback

Biofeedback is a technique which helps a person become more aware of and learn to deal with the body's response to pain. This alternative therapy emphasizes relaxation and stress-reduction techniques. Guided imagery is a relaxation technique that some professionals who use biofeedback do. With guided imagery, a person thinks of peaceful mental images, such as ocean waves. A person may also include the images of controlling or curing a chronic disease, such as diabetes. People using this technique believe their condition can be eased with these positive images.

Chromium

The benefit of added chromium for diabetes has been studied and debated for several years. Several studies report that chromium supplementation may improve diabetes control. Chromium is needed to make glucose tolerance factor, which helps insulin improve its action. Because of insufficient information on the use of chromium to treat diabetes, no recommendations for supplementation yet exist.

Magnesium

Although the relationship between magnesium and diabetes has been studied for decades, it is not yet fully understood. Studies suggest that a deficiency in magnesium may worsen the blood sugar control in Type 2 diabetes. Scientists believe that a deficiency of magnesium interrupts insulin secretion in the pancreas and increases insulin resistance in the body's tissues. Evidence suggests that a deficiency of magnesium may contribute to certain diabetes complications.

Vanadium

Vanadium is a compound found in tiny amounts in plants and animals. Early studies showed that vanadium normalized blood glucose levels in animals with Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes. A recent study found that when people with diabetes were given vanadium, they developed a modest increase in insulin sensitivity and were able to decrease their insulin requirements. Currently researchers want to understand how vanadium works in the body, discover potential side effects, and establish safe dosages.

To learn more about alternative therapies for diabetes treatment, contact the National Institutes of Health's Office of Alternative Medicines Clearinghouse at (888) 644-6226.

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The National Diabetes Information Clearinghouse collects resource information on diabetes for Combined Health Information Database (CHID). CHID is a database produced by health-related agencies of the Federal Government. This database provides titles, abstracts, and availability information for health information and health education resources.

To provide you with the most up-to-date resources, information specialists at the clearinghouse created an automatic search of CHID. To obtain this information you may view the results of the automatic search on Alternative Therapies for Diabetes.

Or, if you wish to perform your own search of the database, you may access the CHID Online web site and search CHID yourself.

National Diabetes Information Clearinghouse

1 Information Way
Bethesda, MD 20892-3560
E-mail: ndic@info.niddk.nih.gov

Publications produced by the clearinghouse are reviewed carefully for scientific accuracy, content, and readability.

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Acknowledgments

Doctors Corner acknowledges the NIDDK as the primary source for this publication. This webpage has been modified by Doctors Corner to enhance readability and provide additional information of importance to our readers.

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