Specific Naturopathic Modalities Ameliorate Glucose Homeostasis and Other Physiological Parameters in Human Diabetics

Background: Diabetes Mellitus is now becoming a serious medical and socio-economic issue all over the world. Early initiation of combination therapy has been suggested as a way to achieve glycemic control, postpone the complications and possibly restore β-cell function. Naturopathy and yoga is one of the upcoming medical systems which had showed a promising result for many lifestyle disorders and hence, this study was aimed to evaluate the effect of 10 days Integrated Naturopathy and Yoga (INY) treatment especially Abdomen Massage and Neutral Hip Bath on glycemic control and anthropometric measures.

Methods: 100 subjects with diabetes were selected and randomly allocated into Case group (naturopathy & yoga intervention with Abdomen Massage and Neutral Hip Bath) and Control group (naturopathy & yoga intervention). The subjects were assessed for blood glucose levels and anthropometric measures at baseline and after the intervention of 10 days.

Results: The result of this study showed a significant reduction in Fasting Glucose (FG) and Post Prandial Glucose (PPG) after 10 days of intervention where Body Mass Index (BMI) and Waist Hip Ratio (WHR) have not shown significant changes in the groups. The case group has a larger mean difference between pre and post values of FG, PPG, BMI, and WHR as compared to the control group.

Conclusion: Abdomen massage with neutral hip bath is relatively better for lowering the FG, PPG along with BMI and WHR, by the activation of adiponectin, Brown Adipose Tissue, Atrial natriuretic peptide and counter-regulatory stress hormones, which control hormonal activity, glucose absorption, metabolism and excretion.