Ayurvedic management of Poorly Controlled Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus - A Case Report

The type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is associated with chronic hyperglycaemia and usually necessitates lifelong medication treatment; nevertheless, drawbacks like side effects of therapeutic agents, high costs of the drugs and non-compliance may subsequently shrink the clinical effectiveness. A case report details about a 33-year-old male diagnosed with uncontrolled T2DM, and who chose to stop the standard allopathic medicine and switch to purely Ayurvedic therapeutic approach. His baseline HbA1c was 12.73%, he had polydipsia, polyphagia, nocturia, fatigue, and erectile dysfunction. Ayurvedic protocol specific to the individual was followed, which included polyherbal preparations such as Vairayadi, Bhumi Amalaki Ghana, Chandraprabhavati, Lodhrasavam, etc., with dietary suggestions to focus on the low-glycaemic-index foods in addition to lifestyle interventions such as yoga and pranayama. At the end of the 9.5 months of treatment, the patient had reduced glycaemic burden significantly, and HbA1c had decreased to 6.62% (in absolute reduction 6.11%, in relative reduction 47.8%). At the same time, the fasting glucose was stabilized, nocturia and erectile dysfunction were resolved completely, no cases of hypoglycaemia or adverse effects were reported. Serum liver and renal function indicators were at normal level which proved the safety of the regime. These results endorse the plausibility of Ayurvedic herbal pharmacotherapy, dietary management, and orderly lifestyle alteration as an attentive and save standalone treatment measure in the management of the early phase, and moderately advanced T2DM. There is need to replicate and extend the preliminary observations in larger prospective studies.