This blog is to share the latest research and development of acupuncture and raise the awareness of alternative treatments for your conditions, and is for information only.

Sunday, 12 June 2016

Acupuncture and Metformin combined therapy is more effective than Metformin monotherapy in treating type 2 diabetes mellitus

 When acupuncture was combined with Metformin to treat patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus, combined therapy induced significant loss of body weight and improved insulin sensitivity compared with Metformin alone. A randomized clinical study was reported in journal of Nutrition & Diabetes.

Metformin monotherapy is a first-line drug to type 2 diabetes mellitus, but its effectiveness does not meet the expectation. Many patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus were not satisfied with the outcome of treatment.

Recently a group of clinical scientists led by Professor BM Zhu conducted a randomized clinical study to assess the effect of combined acupuncture with Metformin on type 2 diabetes mellitus compared with Metformin monotherapy. Thirty-nine patients were divided into combined group and mono group. Patients in combined group were given Metformin and acupuncture treatment. Electroacupuncture was performed on 10 body acupoints plus some ear acupoints for 30 min each time, on alternative day, 10 times within 3 weeks. Mono group were given Metformin only. Outcomes were measured by changes in serum inflammatory markers, lipid profiles and adipokines at the baseline and end of 3-week treatment.

It was found that acupuncture combined Metformin therapy significantly improved body weight, body mass index, fasting blood sugar, fasting insulin compared with Metformin monotherapy group. Further, combined therapy markedly reduced serum inflammatory markers, lipid profiles and adipokines compared with monotherapy group.

The study suggested that acupuncture combined Metformin therapy is more effective in treating type 2 diabetes mellitus than Metformin monotherapy.

Reference
Firouzjaei A et al., Comparative evaluation of the therapeutic effect of metformin monotherapy with metformin and acupuncture combined therapy on weight loss and insulin sensitivity in diabetic patients. Nutr Diabetes. 2016 May 2;6:e209. doi: 10.1038/nutd.2016.16.    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/?term=Firouzjaei%20A%5BAuthor%5D&cauthor=true&cauthor_uid=27136447

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