Acupuncture to Help Manage Diabetes

Diabetes Mellitus

NHS state that there are over 3.9 million people living with diabetes in the UK and by 2025 this figure may increase to 5 million. In this article we are mainly discussing Type 2 Diabetes. An article for type 1 diabetes may be found her NHS

History Of Acupuncture

Historically diabetes was potentially founded 1550BC, written on papyrus stating the onset of a rare peculiar disease that caused weight loss with increased frequency of urination. A Greek physician Aretaeus (30-90CE) had recorded the name ‘diabetes’ after his patients had excessive urination, constant feeling of being thirsty and loosing weight. In the 19th century a chemical test was invented that enabled the detection of excessive sugar in the blood. Within the same era a medical student call Paul Langerhans had found through microscopic investigations the working of the pancreas, this lead him to identify tiny cells in form of islands. At that time their function was relatively unknown. Its was around the 1920s an American call Moses Barron noted after investigation and research names the cells Isle of Langerhans cells as a tribute to Paul Langerhans discovery. A doctor called Fredrick Banting through experimentation linked the pancreas with diabetes and found insulin this lead Banting to win Nobel Prize for is work.

Signs and Symptoms

Diabetes is metabolic disorder in which there are consistently high levels of blood sugar. Due to insufficient production of insulin your carbohydrates are not metabolised correctly. This causes a number of issues such as increased hunger feeling thirsty and frequent urination. Hormones may also be a trigger and have an impact on insulin production. If diabetes is early in life, this has more complications for the later stages in life. Research has shown that coming up to middle age and or being obesity has a great chance of contracting the disease.

Majority of people have high levels of blood sugar content in their system which may be slightly above the normal range, although never being high enough to be consistent enough to be diabetic. This is generally known as being prediabetes, if however the combination of blood sugar ratio remains at a prolonged high level there is a risk of having full-blown diabetes.

Acupuncture For Diabetes

Scientific evidence and clinical tests over the last 12 years have show that acupuncture for diabetes has significant benefits for patients in the following areas

Elevate a lower pain threshold
Lowers the release of pancreatic glucagons
Prevent slowing of motor nerve conduction
Exert antiatherogenic​, antioxidant and immunomodulating effects
Improve microcirculation and myocardial contractility;
Enhance blood outflow and regulate vascular peripheral resistance;
Lower blood glucose content

With acupuncture for diabetes the effects are immediate from the onset of the therapy. Patients also report believing that acupuncture for diabetes has helped numbness, erectile dysfunction. According to World Health Organisation (WHO) Diabetic neuropathic pain, a condition of diabetes is one of the most common side effects and have profound burden on an individual particularly in the quality of life, ability to work and a high use of care resources. Tong (2010) research paper shows a fifteen-day​ acupuncture treatment for diabetic peripheral neuropathy had positive results for the acupuncture group compared to the sham group for the numbness of extremities.