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Can blood sugar levels be reduced by having your skin poked? Practitioners of Chinese medicine say yes, it is possible, but people with type 2 diabetes often worry about wasting their money on some of these treatments.
They are concerned they will receive little or no benefit from their investment.
That particular concern was actually addressed at the Department of Pathophysiology at the Wenzhou Medical Center in Zhejiang, China, a location where acupuncturists are quite successful in their treatment of diseases.
Acupuncture is an ancient healing method that considers the body as a map of energy channels.
Each energy channel has multiple points or locations on it and when a specific location is needled, the energy is restored to the energy meridian.
Generally, the person then feels better afterwards.
Researchers wanted to find out whether or not, acupressure therapy on the acupuncture points of the body, instead of being needled, was good enough to prevent the development and progression of diabetic complications.
The patients in the study were, of course, type 2 diabetics.
The Chinese researchers started out with eighty patients and followed their progress for three years.
All patients still received their regular medications, followed a diabetic eating plan and an exercise program.
The patients in the acupressure group received acupressure treatments four to six times per week for three years.
They also had annual laboratory tests to monitor their cholesterol, fasting blood sugars, heart and kidney functions.
The researchers even went that extra mile to include nerve conduction velocity tests which were able to predict whether or not the nerves of these people were affected by diabetes.
Results showed that after three years, the people with type 2 diabetes that received the acupressure treatment had significantly lower levels of cholesterol and triglycerides.
Their HDL cholesterol levels were higher than the group that did not receive the acupressure treatment.
The best news was acupressure also prevented the progression of type 2 diabetes and their kidneys and nerves did not become affected.
It was therefore concluded by these Chinese researchers, that acupressure can definitely be effective as a strategy in preventing the development and progression of diabetic complications in those with type 2 diabetes.
This particular research was reported in the Journal of Alternative Complementary Medicine on September 15, 2009.
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