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Complementary and alternative medicine for diabetes mellitus: an overview of systematic reviews Full Text
Focus on Alternative and Complementary Therapies, 08/21/2012
Clinical Article
Posadzki P et al. – Evidence supporting the effectiveness of CAM as a treatment option for diabetes is scarce.
Methods- Four electronic databases were searched to identify all relevant systematic reviews published between January 2000 and May 2011.
- Twelve systematic reviews met the inclusion criteria.
- These reviews evaluated the effectiveness of any type of CAM, herbal medicine, qi gong, tai chi, massage, moxibustion and yoga for the treatment and/or management of diabetes mellitus.
- Reviews also assessed the effectiveness of: pharmacological and lifestyle interventions to prevent or delay the onset of the disease; the effectiveness of herbal remedies and dietary supplements for glucose control; and the effectiveness of yoga–based programmes on physiologic and anthropometrical risk profiles and related clinical outcomes.
- Six reviews were of high quality and six indicated high risk of bias.
- Eleven reviews arrived at cautious or negative conclusions.
- One systematic review of massage reported positive conclusions.
