Use of Herbal Products in Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus Patients

Abstract

Aim: In this study, it was aimed to find out the frequency of utilisation of herbal products in Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM) patients. In addition, we aimed to identify the factors that are effective in the use of herbal products. Methodology: A total of 313 T2DM patients, (210 female (67.1%) who were referred to Family Medicine Outpatient Clinics of Ankara Dışkapı Yıldırım Beyazıt Training and Research Hospital were included. A pre-prepared questionnaire was applied with face-to-face interview technique in order to determine sociodemographic data, the use of herbal products and the factors affecting the use of herbal products. Results: The rate of herbal products use at any given period after receiving T2DM diagnosis was found to be 32%. The most preferred products were Cinnamomum zeylanicum, Nigella sativa, Olea europaea and Citrus lemon respectively. A total of 73% of the patients declared that their physicians never asked about utilisation of herbal products in the past. Herbal usage was found to be more common among patients who have been disease duration ≥ 5 years (p:0.003). HbA1c values of women using herbal products were higher than those who did not (p:0.038). Conclusion: We found that herbal products utilisation is a common practice among T2DM patients along with the long term duration of disease. Most of the physicians are unaware of their patients' herbal use. Therefore, clinicians should evaluate complementary medicine utilisation of their patients at every clinical visit in order to guide the integrative treatment.