Herbal Approaches towards Diabetes

Diabetes is a disease that occurs when the blood glucose level is too high in the body. It develops when the pancreas doesn’t make enough insulin in the body. Diabetes is a major cause of some diseases like blindness, kidney failure, neurological disorders, heart attack etc. More than half a billion people are living with diabetes in the world. It affects men, women and children of all ages in every country. Diabetes is a growing challenge in India with an estimated 8.7% diabetic population in the age group of 20 and 70 years. Diabetes has several forms; type 2 is the most common. A combination of treatment strategies can help manage the condition to live a healthy life and prevent various complications caused by diabetes. Herbal medicinal plants have therapeutically important phytochemical constituents which is potential in the treatment of diabetes as well as other diseases. Terpenes, tannins, saponins and alkaloids are important bioactive phytoconstituents for antidiabetic properties. Herbal medicines are gaining importance and people turn towards herbal medicine due to cost- effective, improved therapeutic effects with lesser side effects.

This book “herbal approaches towards diabetes” provides useful information about diabetes, types of diabetes, diabetes - associated complication and management by different medicinal plants. This book also presents the antihyperglycemic activity of various extracts of some medicinal plants (Bambusa vulgaris and Neolamarckia cadamba was studied in streptozotocin - induced diabetes rats. This book also presents the antihyperglycemic activity of various extracts of some medicinal plants Woodfordia fruticosa, Zizyphus Jujube and Carissa spinarum were studied in alloxon induced diabetic rats. The study was carried out in normal animals. Studies revealed that plants shown significant antidiabetic activity.

This book provides the scope for the readers to know the knowledge and management of diabetes by herbal approaches. It can be helpful to researchers to further explore the active constituents of antidiabetic plants and their possible mechanism for future research.