- Good diabetes management is critical for those who must live with the long-term disease.
- No cure for diabetes s available but lipoic acid may be a viable treatment
- Alpha lipoic acid has been shown to reduce complications and improve overall blood glucose levels
Diabetes is one of the lifestyle diseases on the rise due to poor eating habits. More than 23 million Americans are diabetic. The problem with this disease is that it does not have any known cure, but it can be managed and patients can live normal lives with it. There is proof that lipoic acid can be used to treat diabetes. In fact it has been use to treat diabetes in Germany for decades.
Lipoic acid is also known as apha-lipoic acid. It is a broad spectrum antioxidant that functions in both water and fatty tissues. Most antioxidants function either in water or in fatty tissues. Antioxidants are substances that neutralize naturally occurring substances known as free radicals in the body.
One the things that leads to the production of these free radicals is glucose. Glucose has the ability to get oxidized in the body by itself; and since diabetes is a condition where the amount of glucose in the body is more than the body can use, the rate of production of free radicals are higher in diabetics. That means that they should have enough antioxidants in the body to combat
them.
Sources of Lipoic Acic
A healthy body will naturally produce this substance on its own. However, during sickness the body’s ability to produce this important substance may be substantially inhibited leading to the need for supplements. The external sources of this substance are liver and yeast.
Treating diabetes
This acid is can be used to treat what is known as diabetic peripheral neuropathy in which the nerves leading to the legs and arms are damaged causing numbness and pain in addition to other symptoms. It is believed that free radicals are the cause of neuropathy and that is where this acid is good because of its ability to work in both water and fat. Although the studies that were made so far were mostly about intravenous use of the substance, the fact that it is a good form of diabetic management cannot be denied.
In 2006 some studies were conducted on the use of oral forms of the substance and the results show some amount of success, although, compared to the intravenous use, these outcomes were less effective. In those instances, patients were asked to take oral doses for between two to three weeks.
There is also some evidence that this acid can be used to manage other forms of diabetes. It is argued that it helps in some ways to improve blood sugar levels in people suffering from diabetes. It can also be used to treat other complications of diabetes that result from stress due to increased oxidation. Complications like cardiovascular disease and retinopathy can be managed with this acid.
The question is whether this substance is safe or not. There are no known serious side effects of this substance. However, in case you react to it, you are advised to stop its use. That is why it is recommended that you see a doctor before using it. Young children, pregnant and breast feeding mothers are not advised to use it.
Generally this acid is good for the treatment of diabetes, especially the complications that may result from the excessive oxidation that arises from the high levels of glucose in the body.
Tags: lipoic acid
