Reprinted from:
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New England Journal of Medicine 1993
Did you know that the side effects of commonly prescribed diabetes medications can cause dizziness, hunger, and fatigue, and other symptoms of hypoglycemia?
In a survey of 500 patients with type-2 diabetes (or adult-onset diabetes), only 16% realized that their oral antidiabetic drug had side effects although 72% of these respondents were taking sulfonylurea (SU), a class of conventional drugs that may induce hypoglycemia.
Common symptoms reported by these patients included weakness, fatigue, anxiety, nervousness, sweating, and impaired vision. Uncontrollable hunger, another common side effect, was reported by 18% of SU patients while 26% felt they had gained weight within the first few months after starting their diabetes medication. One out of five surveyed felt that their quality of life had suffered after beginning their SU therapies. They reported such emotional factors as a decreased sense of well being, feelings of hopelessness in managing their diabetes, and an impaired social life.
Are these drugs really effective or do you need another drug for the drugs´ side effects? Modifications in diet and exercise can give you the power to manage your diabetes without sacrificing well being. A diet high in fiber and complex carbohydrates can help improve a diabetics tolerance for sugar.
The herb Gymnema sylvestre has a general antidiabetic effect and supplementation with high doses of chromium picolinate can help reduce or normalize blood sugar and other factors associated with type-2 diabetes. Other important diabetes nutrients include the herbs bitter melon and fenugreek, vitamins B1, B6, B12, C, and E, the minerals copper, manganese, and zinc, and essential fatty acids.
For information about how to control and reverse diabetes using alternative medical therapies, click on the Home link and then choose Diabetes.
Source: The Diabetes Control and Complications Trial Research Group. The Effect of Intensive Treatment of Diabetes on the Development and Progression of Long-Term Complications in Insulin-Dependent Diabetes Mellitus.
New England Journal of Medicine 1993. 329:977-986. Richard Anerson, Ph.D., Beneficial Effect of Chromium for People with Type II Diabetes, Diabetes 45:Suppl 2 (1996), 124A/454.
Reprinted from:
www.alternativemedicine.com/whatshot/whatshot9.shtml