Thiamine Found Important for Diabetics

What was once termed “adult-onset diabetes” due to the fact that the vast majority of individuals with the disease were not in their youth, type 2 diabetes now effects people of all ages, and is one of the fastest growing health problems in the United States today. The most common procedure for treating an individual with type 2 diabetes is to simply limit the amount of sugars and refined carbohydrates in their diet. However, I came across an article, which proposed that a simple B vitamin referred to as Thiamine (B1) may play a key role in the treatment of the disease.

The complications that often accompany the disease are devastating to the effected individual, as they might include nerve damage, eye problems, cardiovascular disease, and kidney damage. Also, kidney failure usually occurs 15 to 20 years following the onset of the disease.

A major contributing factor to this grim prognosis lies in the fact that most people are under the influence that by tightly regulating blood glucose levels with diet, oral medication, or insulin, one would likely avoid any complications. However, recent studies have shown that while these things may in fact delay complications, it often does not prevent their onset. This was found to be especially true with diabetic nephropathy, which occurs when the capillaries inside the glomerulus are destroyed. This leads to thickening and scarring of the glomerulus, resulting in the drastic decrease in normal renal function. The first detectable symptoms of diabetic nephropathy are an increased level of albumin in the urine, known as microalbuminuria. Research led by Dr. Naila Rabbani and Professor Paul J Thornalley at Warwick Medical School, University of Warwick, in collaboration with researchers at the University of Punjab and Sheik Zaid Hospital, Lahore, Pakistan, discovered that high doses of Thiamine administered orally can significantly decrease the secretion of albumin, and reverse the progression of early kidney disease in type 2 diabetics.

The subjects (40) for the study were type 2 diabetics between the ages of 35 and 65, and administered 100mg of thiamine three times a day for three months. The control group was administered a placebo. Of those given thiamine, there was a 41% decrease in albumin excretion, and 35% of the subjects given thiamine returned to their normal levels after the thiamine treatment.

Another study led by Professor Paul Thornalley was able to prove that thiamine deficiency plays a significant role in a vast array of vascular complications, and even diabetic neuropathy, as a result of diabetes. They also discovered that thiamine levels in type 1 and type 2 diabetes were 76% and 75% lower than the control, respectively. This drastic decrease in thiamine levels is not due to a low dietary intake of thiamine, but a significant increase in urinary output, therefore supplemental thiamine for diabetics may prove essential.

Possibly one of the most beneficial thiamine treatments, although synthetic, is Benfotiamine, which is chemically similar to the allithiamines one would find in garlic. One of the reasons Benfotiamine is so effective is its ability to readily cross lipid bilayers. This allows the compound to reach relatively high levels in the tissues, while avoiding being excreted rapidly. Benfotiamine has been shown to block three of the four metabolic pathways responsible for the progression of vascular disease in diabetics, and also demonstrated an ability to reduce Advanced Glycation Endproducts (AGEs).

For more information, the article can be found at http://www.NaturalNews.com/025136_thiamine_diabetic_diabetics.html or search “Thiamine Found Important for Diabetics”; by: Patty Donovan, citizen journalist.