The Untold Story in the Management of Diabetes Mellitus

Written by: Dr. Nur Syukriah Ab Rahman

Diabetes mellitus (DM) is one of the most important metabolic disease that hit the globe in the present millennium. It has been listed as one of the five leading cause of deaths and approximately six death per minute are associated to DM complications [1]. The report from National Health and Morbidity Surveys shown that there is an increasing trend in the recorded prevalence of DM for the past decades and surprisingly the overall prevalence of DM has been increased by more than doubled from 1996 to 2015 in Malaysia [2].

The earliest history recorded in the treatments of DM involved the use of plants. Metformin is one of the oral diabetic drug that is widely prescribed by the medical practitioner nowadays which is originated from the use of Galega officinalis (G. officinalis) Linn as herbal medicine in primitive Europe [3]. G. officinalis is a perennial herb with blue, white or purple flowers which is commonly found in most temperate regions and grows over three feet high.

Herbal medicine is one of the subcategories of complementary and alternative medicinal (CAM) therapies. Most of the people favor CAM over conventional therapies due to unsatisfied outcomes such as adverse side effects and higher treatment cost. Synacinn^TM  is a polyherbal formulations that consist of five herbal medicine including Cinnamomun zeylanicum, Curcuma xanthorrhiza, Syzygium polyanthum, Orthosiphon stamineus and Andrographis paniculata and has been standardized against catechin, curcumin, gallic acid, rosmarinic acid and andrographolide respectively. It is believed that each herbal present in Synacinn^TM could act through intelligent network that could produce synergistic effects to remediate DM conditions. In addition, the existing literatures and testimonials suggest promising venue for Synacinn^TM to be scientifically validated and developed as an alternative drug in the management of DM.

The scientific research on the development of Synacinn^TM as herbal medicine in the management of DM is still in progress and a group of researchers from UMT and UTM have put their blood and tears on this development. As for now, Synacinn^TM is already available on the market for example Shoppe, Lazada or can be directly purchased from NatureMedic Laboratories Sdn Bhd. It is hoped that we one fine day we found the cure for this disease.

References:

[1] Li, H., Wu, X., Davey, A. K., & Wang, J. (2011). Antihyperglycemic Effects of Baicalin on Streptozotocin–Nicotinamide Induced Diabetic Rats. Phytotherapy Research, 25(2), 189–194.

[2] Tee, E.-S., & Yap, R. W. K. (2017). Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus in Malaysia: Current Trends and Risk Factors. European Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 71(7), 844–849. https://doi.org/10.1038/ejcn.2017.44

[3] Bailey, C. J., & Day, C. (1989). Traditional Plant Medicines as Treatments for Diabetes. Diabetes Care, 12(8), 553–564. https://doi.org/10.2337/diacare.12.8.553