TRADITIONAL HERBAL MEDICINES IN DIABETES MELLITUS : AN OVERVIEW

Diabetes is an important human disorder concerning various sides in life of people of different countries which ultimately leads to serious damage to the heart, blood vessels, eyes, kidneys and nerves. In India it is showing to be a major health problem, especially in the urban areas. Even though there is considerable progress in the treatment of diabetes by oral hypoglycaemic agents, search for newer drugs continues because the present synthetic drugs have several limitations. There are various approaches to reduce the ill effects of diabetes and its secondary complications, herbal formulations are desired due to lesser side effects and low cost. The present article gives a general idea, complications of diabetic mellitus and focuses on herbal formulations or native plants used in the treatment of diabetes which can be or are part of meals or diet to control sugar level especially in India. The herbal drugs with antidiabetic activity are not yet commercially formulated as modern medicines, even though they have been acclaimed for their therapeutic properties in the traditional systems of medicine. Therefore, this review is aimed at opening up new outlooks in realizing the therapeutic potential of Ayurveda in treatment of diabetes and other chronic diseases. All drugs which we have discussed in this review have a significant role in therapy of diabetes mellitus.