Treatment Scope > Metabolism and Endocrine System > Diabetes

Diabetes is a systemic chronic metabolic disease determined by the inherited genes. The body either does not produce enough or does not fully utilize insulin i.e. absolute or relative insufficiency of insulin causing carbohydrates, fat and protein metabolic disorder. It is characterized by excessive glucose in blood and urine. There is no clinical sign and symptom at the early stage. Later, symptoms appear including polydipsia, polyuria, polyphagia, fatigue and weight loss. Ketoacidosis occurs in severe cases. Complications, associated syndromes and symptoms are acute infection, atheroslerosis, renal and retinal micrangiopathy, neuropathy, numbness in extremities, pain, myocardiac infarction, cerebral haemorrhage and thrombosis, angitis, renal failure and blindness. 

Differentiation and treatment in TCM: 

1. Liver heat injuring body fluid; treatment with herbs to clear heat and moisten lung. 

2. Blazing heat in stomach; treatment with herbs to clear stomach heat and purge fire. 

3. Qi deficiency of spleen and stomach; treatment with herbs to enrich Qi, strengthen spleen and nourish essence. 

4. Deficiency of kidney yin; treatment with herbs to nourish yin, enrich kidney, produce body fluid and clear heat. 

5. Deficiency of Qi and yin; treatment with herbs to enrich Qi and nourish yin. 

6. Deficiency of yin and yang; treatment with herbs to warm yang and nourish yin. 

7. Blood stasis; treatment with herbs to promote blood circulation and resolve stasis. 

8. Yin and yang will separate from each other; rescues yin and revive yang. 

TCM practitioners have researched the herbs used for anti-diabetes and its complications for more than 20 years. They found that some herbs have the functions to lower glucose in blood, increase insulin sensitivities, reduce and improve complications. The effects on improving anti-diabetes and complication have been evident: certain herbs can suppress the activities of aldose reductase and lower the accumulation of sorbite, therefore, these herbs can reduce the retinal disorder and delay the development of cataract as well as improve microcirculation in diabetes patients. 

In practice, we confirm that some herbs have the above functions indeed and make our own formula with differentiation. We use herbs, acupuncture, physical therapy and medicated diet to treat patients and produce desired effects of increasing the production of insulin, enhancing the body and tissue's sensitivity to insulin, improving microcirculation, reducing complications, controlling the glucose level in blood and alleviating the symptoms.