1School of Post-Baccalaureate Chinese Medicine, Tzu Chi University, Hualien, Taiwan
2Department of Chinese Medicine, Taipei Tzu Chi Hospital, Buddhist Tzu Chi Medical
Foundation, Taipei, Taiwan
3Department of Chinese Medicine, Hualien Tzu Chi Hospital, Buddhist Tzu Chi Medical
Foundation, Hualien, Taiwan
4Department of Pharmacy, Hualien Tzu Chi Hospital, Buddhist Tzu Chi Medical Foundation,
Hualien, Taiwan
【Summary】
Diabetes is an ancient metabolic disease. The medical term of "dispersionthirst (xiao ke)" recorded in ancient Chinese literature are symptoms of excessive hunger and thirst, causing people emaciatd eventually with both drinking and urinating much. It belongs to the category of modern diabetes. The seriousness of diabetes lies in poor systemic microcirculation and neuropathy which can cause complications in vital organs; for instance, cardiovascular diseases, renal failure, diabetic foot, and blindness. In this paper, by reviewing the literature, the classification of various syndromes of diabetes on the basis of traditional Chinese medicine is first sorted out, and it becomes the reference for the treatment of prescriptions. Through the arrangement of commercially herbal concentrates, seven kinds of folk herbal medicines used for the treatment of diabetes are choosed-Gymnema Sylvestre, Bidens pilosa, Gynostemma pentaphyllum, Momordica Charantia, Zea mays, Paederia scandens, and Dimocarpus longan.
These herbs have accumulated a wealth of clinical experience from previous generations and are used in modern pharmacological research such as cell tests,animal experiments, and active chemical composition studies. Therefore, they can be used as alternatives for achieving more flexible and effective treatment of Chinese medical practitioner. Finally, modern medicine provides many clinical clues for the diagnosis of diabetes and its related complications. With the use of herbal medicine as adjuvant therapy, the synergy effects of prescription and herbs can become a reference guide for the treatment of modern diabetes, which achieve an ideal and effective result.