title: Chinese herbal medicines for type 2 diabetes mellitus.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Traditional Chinese herbal medicines have been used for a long time to treat diabetes, and many controlled trials have been done to investigate their efficacy.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To assess the effects of Chinese herbal medicines in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus.
  
  
  METHODS
  We searched the following electronic databases: The Cochrane Library (CENTRAL), the Chinese BioMedical Database, MEDLINE, EMBASE, and LILACS, combined with hand searches on Chinese journals and conference proceedings. Date of last search was April 2004. No language restriction was used.
  
  
  METHODS
  Randomised trials of herbal medicines (with at least two months treatment duration) compared with placebo, pharmacological or non-pharmacological interventions were included.
  
  
  METHODS
  Data were extracted independently by two reviewers. The methodological quality of trials was evaluated using the parameters of randomisation, allocation concealment, double blinding, and drop-out rates. Meta-analyses were performed where data were available.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Sixty-six randomised trials, involving 8302 participants, met the inclusion criteria. Methodological quality was generally low. Sixty-nine different herbal medicines were tested in the included trials, which compared herbal medicines with placebo, hypoglycaemic drugs, or herbal medicines plus hypoglycaemic drugs. Compared with placebo, Holy basil leaves, Xianzhen Pian, Qidan Tongmai, traditional Chinese formulae (TCT), Huoxue Jiangtang Pingzhi, and Inolter showed significantly hypoglycaemic response. Compared with hypoglycaemic drugs including glibenclamide, tolbutamide, or gliclazide, seven herbal medicines demonstrated a significant better metabolic control, including Bushen Jiangtang Tang, Composite Trichosanthis, Jiangtang Kang, Ketang Ling, Shenqi Jiangtang Yin, Xiaoke Tang, and Yishen Huoxue Tiaogan. In 29 trials that evaluated herbal medicines combined with hypoglycaemic drugs, 15 different herbal preparations showed additional better effects than hypoglycaemic drugs monotherapy. Two herbal therapies combined with diet and behaviour change showed better hypoglycaemic effects than diet and behaviour change alone. No serious adverse effects from the herbal medicines were reported.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Some herbal medicines show hypoglycaemic effects in type 2 diabetes. However, these findings should be carefully interpreted due to the low methodological quality, small sample size, and limited number of trials. In the light of some positive findings, some herbal medicines deserve further examination in high-quality trials.
authors.affiliation: National Center for Research in Complementary and Alternative Medicine, University of Tromso, Tromso, Norway, N-9037.
authors.forename: J P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: W Y
authors.initials: WY
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Grimsgaard
mesh_terms: D003924:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 / Q000188:drug therapy*; D004365:Drugs, Chinese Herbal / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D006801:Humans; D007004:Hypoglycemic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D008517:Phytotherapy / Q000379:methods*; D016032:Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic
chemical_list: D004365:Drugs, Chinese Herbal; D007004:Hypoglycemic Agents