The role of laser in diabetes management

Abstract

Background and Objectives: For over 20 years a few authors have reported hypoglycaemic effects of non surgical laser in type 1 and 2 diabetes. Different types of laser were used in association with other physical sources producing magnetic fields and electricity, and different treatment procedures were utilized. A few authors have published on this topic, following the famous "Helsinki" rules of clinical research: Declaration and other similar protocols. The aim of our study is to verify if some laser exposure parameters have effect on glycaemia and on the management of diabetes, and the persistence duration of this bio-effect. Study Design/Materials and Methods: We started with a phase 2 clinical investigation. Fifteen patients were enrolled in this study, five with type 1 and ten with type 2 diabetes. The study comprised of both sexes with their ages ranging from 18-65 years. We used the same diode laser system coupled with magnetic fields but different procedure of treatment. Glycaemia was measured immediately before and 10 minutes after each session of treatment. Glycate haemoglobin were measured before and 3 months after the treatment. Insulin and anti-diabetic drugs were progressively reduced during the course of the treatment, when the glycaemia levels decreased. Results: The results obtained were consistently positive. The follow up was variable depending of the type of the diabetes and the behaviour of the subject after the treatment. Conclusions: Our data demonstrate that the current typical diabetes management protocols with anti-diabetic medicine could be totally modified in the near future, especially if these positive results of laser treatment remain consistently positive in the next phases of the studies. The laser induced mechanism of actions needs to be studied. Laser and magnetic field could be useful alone or in association with other therapies. Further experimentation could establish what kind of laser and energy will be the best for this treatment. © Springer Science + Business Media, LLC 2008.