The Effect of Traditional Home Remedies on Glycemic Control among People with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM)

Traditional home remedy consumption is a typical ancient practice in India. These traditional home remedies are found to have beneficial effects on many chronic conditions. This study was designed to explore the effect of traditional home remedies on glycemic control in people with type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (DM). In this study, 148 type-2 DM patients aged between 35 and 70 of both genders, participated. Among 148 type-2 DM patients, 102 T2DM patients use traditional home remedies along with oral anti-diabetic drugs, while the remaining 46 are non-users. The details of age, duration of type- 2 DM, glycated Hb (HbA1c) values, and use of traditional home remedies were obtained from a cross-sectional survey. The HbA1c value of 7-8% was considered an optimal target glycemic control, and ≤ 7% was considered poor control. A mean and SD were used to represent descriptive statistics. An independent sample test was used to compare the mean HBA1c between the fenugreek users and non-users by considering p<0.05 as statistically significant. The majority of type- 2 DM in our study group used Trigonella foenum-graecum (Fenugreek) (76.47%). A small proportion of our study group is using Azadirachta indica (Indian lilac or neem) (7.84%), Momordica charantia (bitter guard) (3.93%), and Aegle marmelos L. (Bengal quince or bael) (2.94%). The HbA1c levels in the majority of the traditional home remedy users were within the recommended target levels. The mean HbA1c levels of fenugreek non-users were significantly higher (p<0.001) than fenugreek users. In conclusion, our study shows that type-2 DM traditional home remedy users have better glycemic control than non-users. Home remedies are potent natural food sources that can be used with anti-diabetic drugs. However, such a use should be done with the knowledge of treating doctors, which may help to achieve better glycemic control and prevent type-2 DM-related complications.