Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) treatment for diabetes, in terms of lowering blood sugar, may not be as fast as Western medicine, but it emphasizes holistic regulation and is significantly better in improving symptoms. Therefore, TCM treatment for diabetes is particularly suitable for non-insulin-dependent patients (type 2 diabetes) or patients with chronic vascular and neurological complications.
However, TCM may not be suitable for insulin-dependent patients (type 1 diabetes) as they cannot produce enough insulin on their own and rely entirely on exogenous insulin to maintain their normal physiological needs. Stopping insulin treatment may lead to ketoacidosis and threaten their lives.
The principles of TCM treatment for diabetes are not in conflict with Western medicine. The main points to note are as follows:
(1) Diet control is the foundation
The "Huangdi Neijing" states: "...sweet and fatty foods make people internally hot, and sweet foods make people feel fullness, so their energy overflows and turns into polydipsia." The "Jingyue Quanshu" says: "Polydipsia disease is more common in the rich and less common in the poor." This shows that TCM has long recognized that diabetes is a disease of the rich and requires dietary control. For type 2 diabetes patients, with mild diabetes without serious acute or chronic complications, especially those with certain insulin secretion function, TCM treatment alone can be used alongside proper diet management and exercise therapy.
(2) Tai Chi is recommended for exercise
Ancient people have long recognized that moderate exercise is an effective measure for preventing and treating diabetes. Diabetes patients should engage in exercise under the guidance of a doctor, "without fatigue", and can choose activities such as walking, fitness exercises, Tai Chi, swimming, and ballroom dancing according to their condition. Especially Tai Chi, with its relaxed, natural, gentle, and stretching characteristics, is most suitable for diabetes patients.
(3) Emotional regulation is important
The occurrence and development of diabetes are related to emotions. Diabetic patients should have a correct attitude towards life and the disease, "restrain joy and anger" and "reduce worries". Maintaining emotional stability and smooth blood circulation is beneficial for controlling and recovering from the disease. TCM believes that diseases have both physiological and pathological aspects as well as psychological issues, so the role of emotions must be taken seriously.
(4) Health preservation emphasizes following nature
TCM believes that humans are born by observing the qi of heaven and earth, and the changes of the four seasons have direct and indirect effects on human physiology and pathology. It emphasizes following nature to nourish the body's vital energy. It advocates wind prevention in spring, heat prevention in summer, dryness prevention in autumn, and cold prevention in winter, in order to achieve the goal of "preserving the body's vital energy and warding off evil". Diabetes is a chronic disease, and patients need to learn self-care. However, self-care does not mean indiscriminate or long-term use of tonics. TCM emphasizes supplementing deficiencies and purging excesses. If it is a true deficiency pattern, tonics can be harmful without any benefit.
(5) Medication must be based on pattern differentiation
In clinical treatment, newly diagnosed patients are first informed about self-care methods for diabetes and asked to control their diet for one to two months and incorporate exercise therapy. If blood sugar is significantly reduced, they can continue to maintain it. If the control is not satisfactory, TCM treatment is given. Patients are generally classified into three types: Yin deficiency type, Qi and Yin deficiency type, and Yin and Yang deficiency type.
