Review of alternative medicine (AM) treatments for diabetes

In the US, diabetes is a signification public health issue. It is one of the leading causes of death and number one cause of kidney failure. Even with increased awareness and medical advances, the diabetic trends with the US adult population are not very encouraging. The number of diabetes cases in the US the last twenty years has more than doubled and out of the 37.3 million adults in the US with diabetes, 20% of them don’t even know that they have it.1 Diabetes is a chronic disease with no available cure, medical practitioners and researchers have focused on controlling it with through medicine and lifestyle changes. Diet, exercise and healthy lifestyle are the most important factors on managing diabetes. There are several Alternative Medicine (AM) treatments that are available to manage diabetes today. Diet, exercise, herbs and supplements, yoga and meditation are some of the available AM treatments for diabetes. Herbs and supplements do not come under the purview of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) because they are not classified as medicines. Moreover, there are not enough definitive research that proves the efficiency and efficacy of AM treatments. In this paper, I have described AM treatments available today and their impact on diabetes management.