| March
22, 2004
Pycnogenol Helps Manage Diabetes
Type 2 diabetes patients had lower blood sugar and healthier
blood vessels after supplementing with the French maritime pine
tree bark extract Pycnogenol, report scientists in a study to
investigate a natural product for diabetes management.
The rapid increase in Type 2 diabetes has triggered a search
for natural products that can help patients manage the condition
and cut the costs of expensive drugs. There are currently more
than 194 million people with diabetes worldwide, but if nothing
is done to slow the epidemic, the number will exceed 333 million
by 2025, according to the International Diabetes Federation.
Author Peter Rohdewald from the Institute of Pharmaceutical Chemistry
at the University of Muenster said the new study was prompted
by communication from patients reporting no need for insulin following
supplementation with Pycnogenol. Along with colleagues at the
Guang An Men Hospital of the Chinese Medical Science Research
Institute in Beijing, the researcher carried out a new open, controlled,
dose-finding study on patients with mild Type 2 diabetes, aged
28–64 years of age and with a BMI of between 22–34.
The 18 men and 12 women were on a regular diet and exercise program.
The researchers report that patients were able to significantly
lower their glucose levels when they supplemented with 50-200
mg of the supplement. High blood sugar damages blood cells and
blood vessels. Diagnostic blood chemistry in this study suggests
that entailing problems arising from elevated blood sugar are
significantly reduced. Pycnogenol did not affect insulin levels
in diabetic patients.
The supplement, extracted from the bark of the Maritime pine
that grows along the coast of southwest France, has also been
shown to improve cardiovascular problems prevailing in diabetics.
Studies have found Pycnogenol reduces high blood pressure, platelet
aggregation, LDL “bad” cholesterol and enhances circulation.
The new study is published as a letter in the current issue of
Diabetes Care (27:839).
SOURCE: http://www.nutraingredients.com/news/news-NG.asp?id=50791
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