Acupuncture may contribute to diabetes prevention
With diabetes, one of the most serious health problems of the 21st century, Australian researchers have perhaps found a tool to prevent type 2 diabetes —acupuncture, which is an element of Chinese medicine.
For treatment, thin needles are inserted into the body, and therapy is said to help with numerous problems such as sleeplessness, infertility, anxiety, nausea, musculoskeletal issues, and many others.
Without intervention, 93 percent of people with pre-diabetes will develop type 2 diabetes in 20 years,” said Min Zhang, “A Ph.D. candidate from Edith Cowan University and Principal Investigator, in a press release.
‘But unlike diabetes, pre-diabetes is reversible through lifestyle interventions like better nutrition and more exercise. But many people have trouble adhering to long-term lifestyle changes, so non-pharmacological treatments such as acupuncture could be helpful.”
To conduct this study, a research team from Edith Cowan University studied dozens of studies that explained the effects of acupuncture on over 3,600 people diagnosed with prediabetes — an abnormally high blood sugar condition, but not high enough to diagnose diabetes.
Consequently, the team found that acupuncture significantly improved the main markers and showed a substantial decrease in the incidence of prediabetes.
Zhang says she wants to deepen the connection between acupuncturing and diabetes.
Many people with prediabetes are symptoms and feel better, but some people progress in the period of diabetes, not more than six months after their pre-diabetes diagnosis,” said Zhang.
In fact, pre-diabetes intervention is an investment as opposed to an expenditure. Now is a good time to prevent type 2 diabetes.”