Diabetes-Mamejvo

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Diabetic? Try this

Radha Sharma

[ 20 Jan, 2007 2116hrs ISTTIMES NEWS NETWORK ]

 

AHMEDABAD: There is good news for the farsaan-feasting, sweet-toothed people of Gujarat, often called the 'diabetes capital' of India.

 

Non-insulin dependant diabetics,who run a high risk of developing heart, kidney, eye and nerve complications, may have hope in an ayurvedic compound Enicostema Littorele (EL), locally called the 'mamejvo' herb.

 

An ongoing study, commissioned by the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) on the efficacy of mamejvo, has revealed that it has a unique gene protective action that significantly reverses cell damage, increases DNA repair activity and counters diabetes-induced oxidative stress.

 

Though mamejvo, traditionally consumed to control glucose, does it only in an average manner, it significantly tames markers indicating high risk to the heart.

 

"Most allopathic drugs for controlling diabetes target only glucose levels in the body. As against this, EL protects the body against the high oxidative stress induced by diabetes which causes cell damage and decreases DNA repair," says geneticist and endocrinologist Jayesh Sheth of the Foundation for Research in Human Genetics and Endocrinology (FRIGE).

 

Sheth is leading the research on mamejvo along with diabetologists Navneet Shah and Tiven Marwah at FRIGE and VS Hospital in Ahmedabad, one of the four cities in India simultaneously researching the compound as part of the Technology Network for Business Development project of CSIR to evaluate ayurvedic compounds.

 

While the Phase-I and Phase-II trials are over, Phase-III trails are still on. The trials were conducted on type-2 diabetics between 40-65 years who are on oral, anti-diabetes drugs. A small number of patients on insulin were also included in the trials.

 

The Phase-II trails, conducted on 28 patients, revealed that the compound provided an average reduction in glucose and cholesterol levels. Ninety per cent of the patients recorded 13 per cent reduction in the glucose levels spanning four-six weeks while 70 per cent patients recorded 7-8 per cent reduction in cholesterol.

 

Its impact on inflammatory markers, like high sensitive C-Reactive protein indicating damage to the heart, was astounding — 70 per cent patients showed a whopping 50 per cent reduction.

 

However, the most significant impact of EL was on gene damage control. "The gene protective action of the compound is most promising," said Sheth.