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2007-9-3 17:43:12 |
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Editor's note: Regardless of efficacy of zinc on diabetes, patients need to make sure that they get enough zinc daily. Zinc deficiency commonly found in many diabetics could cause other health problems. However, patients should not count on zinc supplements for the micronutrient. Instead, patients better use zinc-rich foods for the nutrient because zinc alone may not have much of an effect as this and other studies show. In addition, changing lifestyle including diet can improve diabetes drastically. Every patient should try to do some lifestyle adjustment first to see if that works for him. Jump starting some drug treatment could lead to drug dependency and loss of an opportunity to correct the condition naturally. (this note is not from healthday.com) There's a lack of good studies on the issue, experts say WEDNESDAY, Jan. 24 (HealthDay News) -- Despite claims by zinc supplement manufacturers that the pills can help prevent type 2 diabetes, there is no proof for that notion in randomized clinical trials, a new report concludes. But even though there is no evidence from clinical studies, that doesn't mean that zinc has no role in diabetes prevention, say the authors of a research review article in the current issue of The Cochrane Library journal. Laboratory research suggests that zinc does help promote the production and action of insulin, the review authors point out. The problem is a lack of good clinical trials on the issue, the review authors said. They analyzed 192 clinical trials involving zinc, insulin and their use in type 2 diabetes. However, just one of the studies met their content and quality criteria for inclusion in the review. That four-week study of 56 obese women found that zinc did not have an effect on factors associated with the development of diabetes. "It is important to recognize that this systematic review was left with one trial that treated 56 people with either zinc or a placebo for four weeks and found no effect. This single trial is too small and too short to really tell us anything about the effectiveness of zinc," Dr. John Buse, an American Diabetes Association spokesman who was not involved in the review, said in a prepared statement. "Basically, we know nothing that can definitively guide clinicians in providing advice regarding zinc supplementation in diabetes," Buse said. More information The U.S. National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases has more about preventing diabetes. -- Robert Preidt SOURCE: Cochrane Collaboration, news release, Jan. 23, 2007 Last Updated: Jan. 24, 2007 Copyright © 2007 ScoutNews, LLC. All rights reserved. |
