The use of herbal and other natural therapies in diabetes "A retrospective survey study"

This study aims to investigate the prevalence and type of herbal and other natural therapies used by patients with diabetes, the sources of information related to these therapies, the main reasons why patients tend to use them and the rates of usage declaration to the healthcare professionals. A questionnaire was conducted with 110 diabetic outpatients (mean age: 60,4±13,4 (18-87 years), M/F=53/57) attending to the nutrition and dietetics department of a private medical center located in İstanbul, Anatolian Side. SPSS 15.0 for Windows was used for statistical analysis of data. It was concluded that there is a statistically difference in the prevalence of the use of herbal and other natural therapies between the patents with type 1 and type 2 diabetes (p=0,037). The prevalence of use-continuation of patients with type 2 diabetes is higher when compared to type 1diabetes. There are significant correlations between the degree of belief in and the prevalence of use of these therapies (p<0,001). There are also significant correlations between the presence of any diabetes complications and the prevalence of use (p=0,006). The prevalence of use-termination of these therapies in patients with diabetes complications is high. It is observed that cinnamon, omega-3 and black cumin are the commonly used herbal drugs or food supplements. The findings of this study revealed once more the importance of the necessity of consciousness raising of the patients about the possible positive /negative effects of these therapies and informing the relevant healthcare professionals about their use, and also their access to the accurate sources of information based on scientific data.