Are Ayurvedic herbs for diabetes effective ? Limited evidence shows

Objective To evaluate and synthesize the evidence on the effect of Ayu rvedic therapies for diabetes mellitus. Design Systematic review of trials. Measurements and main results We found no study that assessed Ayurvedic as a system of care. Botanical therapy was by far the most commonly stud ied Ayurvedic treatment. Herbs were stud ied either singly or as formulas. In all , 993 titles in Western computerized databases and 318 t it les ident ified by hand-searching journa ls in India were examined, yield ing 54 articles reporting the results of 62 studies. The most-studied herbs were G sylvestre, C indica, fenugreek, and Eugenia jambo/ana. A number of herba l form ulas were tested, but Ayush82 and 0 -400 were most often stud ied. Thirty-five of the stud ies included came from the Western literature, 27 from the Indian. Seven were ra ndomized controlled trials (RCTs) and 10 controlled clinical trials (CCTs) or natural experiments. Twenty-two studies went on to further analysis based on a set of cri teria. Of these, 10 were RCTs, eCTs, or natural experiments, 12 were case se ries or cohort studies. There is evidence to suggest that the herbs C indica, holy basil, fenugreek, and G sylvestre, and the herbal formulas Ayush-82 and 0 -400 have a glucose-lowering effect and deserve further study. Evidence of effectiveness of several other herbs is less extensive (C tamala, E jambo/ana, and Momordica charantia) . Conclusions There is heterogeneity in the available l iteratu re on Ayurved ic treatment for d iabetes. Most studies test herbal therapy. Heterogeneity exists in the herbs and formu las tested (more than 44 different interventions identified) and in the method of their preparat ion. Despite these limitations, there are sufficient data for several herbs or herbal formu las to warrant further studies. iven the US popu la tion's increasing interest in herbal and alternative therapies, it is JUSt a matter of time before YOLI will be fielding questions from patients about Ayurveda-