Alternative & Integrative Medicine

A Systematic Review on Unani Interventions in Type-2 Diabetes Mellitus

Abstract

Itrat Malik, Sheikh Aziz Ahmed, Tariq Nadeem Khan and Shariq shamsi

Background: The prevalence of diabetes is steadily increasing worldwide, and it is considered as one of the main threats to human health. In India, numerous reports describe the utilization of Unani medicine in the treatment of diabetes mellitus.
Objective: to systematically analyzed randomized clinical trials of Unani interventions in type-2 diabetes mellitus.
Materials and Methods: A comprehensive search of online databases, viz., Pub Med, Google Scholar etc. using keywords like ‘Unani Medicine’, ‘Diabetes mellitus’, ‘Clinical trial’, ‘Glycemic control’ or combination of these. In addition, journals and dissertations in the library of the National Institute of Unani Medicine, Bangalore, India was manually searched. Only four clinical trials met the criteria and were included in the review. The most common outcome measures encountered in these studies were fasting blood glucose level (FBS), postprandial blood glucose level (PPBS) and HbA1C. Trials on pre diabetes and those which primarily examined diabetic complications such as diabetic neuropathy or nephropathy were excluded.
Results: Significant reductions in FBS and PPBS were observed with the administration of combination of Gymnema Sylvester and Tinospora cardifolia. Highly significant effect on FBS (p<0.003) and moderately significant on PPBS (p<0.013) were observed with Spirulina. Significant effect on HbA1C (p<0.05) was observed with a polyherbal formulation containing Tinospora cardifolia, Bambusa bambos and Nelumbo nucifera. Similar effects were observed on FBS, PPBS and HbA1_C with administration of a combination of Eugenia jambolana and Withania coagulans. These studies enrolled 190 participants and treatment duration ranged from 6 to 12 weeks.

Conclusion: Although the results showed statistically significant effects with Unani interventions; however, due to limited number of trials, any definite conclusions regarding their efficacy cannot be ascertained. Hence, further studies with more number of participants and of sufficient length needed to determine a relevant clinical effect to validate the use of these interventions in routine clinical practice.