a survey on herbal medicines for hypoglycemia in diabetic patients

diabetes mellitus is one of the major metabolic disorders. it is a global epidemic with an estimated worldwide prevalence of 6% (246 million people) in 2007. diabetes is recognized for severe complications including diabetic nephropathy, neuropathy, and retinopathy. currently, available therapy acts by increasing insulin secretion (sulphonylurea and glinides), decreasing insulin resistance (glitazones and metformin) or delaying the absorption of glucose from the intestine (acarbose). insulin treatment is expensive and induces weight gain. none of these drugs have been shown to stop the progressive decline of beta-cell function. many traditional plant treatments exist as a hidden wealth of potentially useful natural products for diabetes control. there are approximately 800 to 1200 plants that exhibit hypoglycemic activity. herbal medicine represents one of the most important fields of traditional medicine all over the world and provides a valuable alternative therapeutic. herbal medicines are frequently considered to be less toxic and free from side effects rather than synthetic ones. many plants like citrullus colocynthis, fenugreek and ginger are useful in diabetes. the hypoglycemic properties of the plants are surveyed in this paper such as citrullus colocynthis, fenugreek, and ginger.