Monday, January 06, 2014

Can Honey Reduce Complications of Diabetes?

Honey Therapy in a Patient Volunteer with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus: Case Report
J Clin Trials, 3:148, Nov. 2013
We report a patient with Coronary Heart Disease (CHD), hypertension and type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (DM) who volunteered to stop all conventional medications and use honey as an alternative therapy for almost 11 years.
In spite of persistent hyperglycemia and dyslipidemia, unexpectedly his blood pressure was controlled, his CHD improved or at least stabilized, and he did not develop cerebral strokes. Moreover and unexpectedly he did not develop diabetic ketoacidosis or hyper-osmolar coma. However he developed micro-vascular complications in the form of peripheral neuritis and non proliferative retinopathy after 6 and 8 years, respectively.
Although a final conclusion could not be drawn from a single case, this case study highlighted important questions and observations that warrant well designed randomized controlled studies to evaluate whether intake of honey, as a complementary agent, concomitantly with anti-diabetic treatment has the potential to prevent or reduce both macro-and micro-vascular complications of diabetes.

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