Toronto-Centre Naturopathic Medicine is a Toronto naturopathic clinic dedicated to providing safe and effective treatment of a wide variety of health conditions using natural therapies and the principles of naturopathic medicine.
Diabetes is well treated using naturopathic medicine. The term “diabetes mellitus” refers to a group of diseases that affect how your body uses blood glucose or blood sugar, and ultimately where your blood glucose levels are high. Chronic forms of diabetes include type 1 diabetes, in which your body produces very little or no insulin (the hormone your body uses to move sugar from your blood into your other cells) and type 2 diabetes in which your other cells become resistant to the action of insulin. Potentially reversible forms of diabetes include prediabetes (which can progress to type 2 diabetes), in which your blood glucose levels are higher than normal, but not high enough to be classified as diabetes, and gestational diabetes which occurs during pregnancy. Untreated, diabetes can result in many serious complications including heart attacks and strokes, nerve damage (leading to numbness and pain in, and even amputation of limbs, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, constipation, erectile dysfunction), kidney damage, blindness and an increased risk of osteoporosis. Professional healthcare should be sought out if you notice any possible diabetes symptoms.
Symptoms of diabetes
Possible symptoms of diabetes include:
- Increased thirst
- Frequent urination
- Extreme hunger
- Fatigue
- Frequent infections
- Blurred vision
- Slow healing of cuts and sores
Diabetes treatment at Toronto-Centre Naturopathic Medicine
At Toronto-Centre Naturopathic Medicine, the goals of diabetes treatment are, in the event of prediabetes to prevent development of type 2 diabetes, and in the cases of chronic diabetes to reduce symptoms and amounts of medication required, and prevent or manage complications and associated conditions (e.g., high blood pressure).
Conventional treatment for diabetes may include a variety of medications, including insulin and metformin (Glucophage), which may have short- or long-term side effects. For this reason, you may choose to try natural treatment to possibly avoid use of conventional medications, or together with conventional medications in order to decrease dosages of conventional medications required to manage your prediabetes or diabetes symptoms.
Naturopathic treatment of any chronic health concern must be recognized as a process that involves identifying specific treatment goals, a thorough understanding by your naturopathic doctor of all factors affecting your health, including physical, psychological, emotional and lifestyle factors, development of a comprehensive treatment plan and execution of that plan through periodic monitoring and adjustment.
At Toronto-Centre Naturopathic Medicine a typical approach to treating diabetes is to first identify and address underlying factors in your lifestyle (e.g., poor diet, weight management, sedentary lifestyle, stress) or general health (e.g., polycystic ovary syndrome). Where appropriate, a number of therapeutic options are available, to be used alone, or more often in a complementary fashion, including:
- Nutritional supplements
- Botanical (herbal) medicines
- Exercise prescription
- Relaxation techniques
- Acupuncture
- Homeopathic medicines
- Lifestyle counseling
Reference
Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research. Diabetes [Online]. [cited 2009 Feb 18]; Available from: http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/diabetes/DS01121