Treating Diabetes with Acupuncture and Herbal Medicine

With an estimated 150 million people world-wide currently diagnosed with diabetes mellitus, and a continuously rising prevalence of this disease in the general population, acupuncture and herbal medicine have become attractive alternatives to the side-effects and high cost of currently used treatments. (1) Researchers continue to study the effects of numerous herbs in an attempt to locate a single treatment that addresses the multiple facets of symptoms usually seen in diabetic patients.

Acupuncture, especially when combined with herbal medicine and diet/lifestyle changes, has become increasingly popular as an effective aid in treating diabetes mellitus. As an example, one approach to treating diabetes is to use the 5-Elements Theory: for a diabetic patient who is overweight, we can insert acupuncture needles in specific points corresponding to the Fire Element and the Earth Element. Because Fire nourishes and strengthens Earth in this theory, and an imbalance or weakness in Earth often correlates with a condition of being overweight, this approach can be quite effective.

An often used Chinese Herbal Formula for diabetic patients is liu wei di huang wan, or “Six-Ingredient Pill with Rehmannia.” One of the main herbs in this formula is the root of the rehmannia plant that has been specially prepared through a cooking process to attain the needed properties. (2, 3)

Another promising herbal treatment is the herb gymnema (Gymnema sylvestre), a large, woody climbing plant from tropical Africa, southern and central India, and tropical Australia. This herb has shown an impressive ability to simultaneously target several of the problems encountered in diabetes patients, including obesity, chronic inflammation, pancreatic B-cell function, and enzymatic defects. This is of great interest, as no single oral hypoglycemic drug presently demonstrates such a wide range of positive effects. (1)

In treating diabetes with acupuncture and herbal medicine, however, a flexible treatment plan is required such that we can tailor the herbs and acupuncture points selected for the constitution and imbalances unique to each individual patient.

(1) Gymnema Sylvestre for Diabetes Mellitus: A Systematic Review, by Mathew Leach; The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, V13, #9, 2007, pp.977-983

(2) Chinese Herbal Medicine Materia Medica, 3^rd edition, by Dan Bensky, et al.

(3) Chinese Herbal Medicine Formulas & Strategies, by Dan Bensky, et al.

Author: Adrian Baume, L.Ac.,

practices Acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine at Traditional Acupuncture Health Center (http://www.acupuncturechico.com) in Chico in Northern California. He also practices Tai Chi and nutritional medicine.