Herbal Drugs used for the Management of Diabetes: A Review

Abstract

An abnormal increase in blood glucose level leads to diabetes, which is characterized as major metabolic disorder. Risk of various serious complications like diabetic retinopathy, diabetic neuropathy, diabetic non-healing foot ulcers and muti-organ failure increases in patients present with uncontrolled diabetes. Diabetes can be managed in patients by using various marketed conventional anti-diabetic drugs which are expensive and lead to multiple severe side-effects in patients. Considering this, various cost-effective herbal medicines are developed that can be used for the effective management of diabetes with a lower risk of severe side effects. Investigation of various herbal plants has been conducted in past few years  to evaluate their efficacy in the treatment of Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes. Findings of experimental studies provide evidence that presence of natural antioxidants, flavonoids, and tannins as secondary active metabolites is responsible for the significant anti-hyperglycemic activity of various herbal plants which are associated with considerable potential to regenerate beta-cells activity and reduce blood glucose levels. Providing detailed information about the herbal plant’s utility as anti-diabetics in various conventional medicines is the major objective of this review article. These include Coriandar Sativum, Aloe Vera, Zingiber Officinale, Tinospora Cardiofolia, Ferula Asafoetida, and Andrographis Paniculata.