Efficacy of herbal medicine for patients with diabetic neuropathies: An updated literature review

Abstract

Traditional medicine is efficacious to protect complications of diabetes mellitus, such as diabetic neuropathy. Therapy with herbal medicine has been developed for people with diabetes empirically over the years. This literature review aims to assess effect of herbal medicine for patients with diabetic neuropathies. We conducted a literature analysis using articles that were randomized controlled clinical trials (RCTs). Three databases were searched from PubMed, EMBASE, CENTRAL that have been published from January 2000 until October 2021until October 2021 and obtained four articles that met the study criteria. The review analysis results showed a significant effect between Gua Sha therapy, green tea extract, and topical Citrullus colocynthis on reducing diabetic neuropathy pain (p < 0.05). Nutmeg Extracts did not show significant results on diabetes mellitus pain after being treated for four weeks (p = 0.063). The review results in the physical and neural function also showed the significant increase in mean scores. Despite the positive findings, it is too early to conclude on the efficacy of herbal medicine to treat diabetic neuropathy due to the high clinical heterogeneity and the number of sample size of the study was too small. However, it may be indicative of the effect of herbal medicine in reducing pain in diabetic neuropathy.