Scientists from Edith Cowan University found acupuncture therapy may be a useful tool in avoiding type 2 diabetes.
This showed great promise for acupuncture therapy as an additional option to ward off diabetes, which is estimated to affect 11 percent of the world’s adult population.
The research is published in Holistic Nursing Practice and was conducted by Min Zhang et al.
It’s been used for thousands of years to treat a variety of illnesses—and now acupuncture could also help fight one of the 21st century’s biggest health challenges.
In the study, the research team examined dozens of studies covering the effects of acupuncture on more than 3600 people with prediabetes.
Prediabetes is a condition that sees higher-than-normal blood glucose levels without being high enough to be diagnosed as diabetes.
The findings showed acupuncture therapy strongly improved key markers, such as fasting blood sugar, and two-hour plasma glucose, plus a greater decline in the incidence of prediabetes.
There were also no reports of adverse reactions among patients.
The International Diabetes Federation estimates nearly 1.3 billion people will have either diabetes or prediabetes by 2045.
The team says without intervention, 93 percent of people with prediabetes will develop type 2 diabetes within 20 years.
But unlike diabetes, prediabetes is reversible with lifestyle interventions such as improved diet and an increase in exercise.
Though diabetes is often linked to lifestyle factors, other aspects of life may also have an impact—which is where acupuncture comes in.
Acupuncture can help with these factors and work holistically to help people balance their life.
They team says it’s important to note acupuncture therapy is more than just using needles—it refers to a big family of acupoint stimulation techniques, such as light and electric pulses, and includes other traditional Chinese medicine therapies such as moxibustion.
If you care about diabetes, please read studies about vegetables that could reduce kidney damage caused by diabetes, and why more than half of people with type 2 diabetes die from heart disease.
For more information about diabetes, please see recent studies about diet that could help reduce high blood pressure, diabetes, and results showing this therapy may reverse diabetes-related eye disease.
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