Diabetes Mellitus Type II: Treatment Strategies and Options: A Review

Traditional medicines are practiced worldwide for treatment of type II diabetes mellitus since ancient times. This review provides a comprehensive summary of medicinal plant throughout the world regarding their traditional usage by various tribes/ethnic groups for treatment of type II diabetes mellitus. Various treatment options are available in allopathic system of medicine. The prevalence of type II diabetes mellitus is increasing in all over the world. The need for achieving better control of blood glucose level has been evident in type II diabetes mellitus management. A wide number of herbal products are employed in the treatment of type II diabetes mellitus for their better efficacy and safety compared to synthetic medicine. Objective of study is to review conventional and herbal treatment of type II diabetes mellitus and document the medicinal plants used for treatment of type II diabetes mellitus that will help the physician in their practice. The material for this review was taken mostly from endocrinology textbooks & electronic journal Up to date. To collect publication Pub Med, Google scholars and the Cochrane database of systematic reviews was used. Some other relevant references were collected from personal database of papers on type II diabetes mellitus. World health organization (WHO) is also supporting the research on herbal medicine regarding type II diabetes mellitus. Various hypoglycemic agents from medicinal plants have been found that are effective and safe. The medicinal plants used for the treatment of type II diabetes mellitus were reviewed based on the ethno botanic, some chemical and biochemical reports. Various plants species belonging to different families have been documented used for treatment of type II diabetes mellitus.