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Sugar of death

  • 14/07/1995
  • WHO

The World Health Organisation (who) has reported a 3 per cent rise in the incidence of diabetes the world over. The total number of diabetic patients in India stands at 20 per cent, 2nd highest in the world.

Diabetes mellitus and Diabetes insipidus are the 2 varieties of the malady, and the primary drug is insulin. But they have unpleasant side effects and are often beyond the reach of the poor.

At a recent meet on the role of medicinal plants in the management of diabetes and related complications, held at the Banaras Hindu University (bhu) in Varanasi, Sunthorn Tandhanand, president, International Diabetes Federation, South-East Asia, disclosed that the 700 plants which could possibly cure diabetes still need to be tested.

bhu laboratory offers Manjishta and kanchnar for neuropathy and vasculopathy diabetes, Nagkeshar and Manjishtha for diabetic blindness, Pushkar-mul and Kuth for cardio-diabetes and Varun-sehjan, Gokhuru, Punarnawa and Amrita for kidney disease.

Admits a doctor at the laboratory, "India and the third world countries are very rich in medicinal plants and Japan, Germany and the usa in particular already have been enriching their labs with the herbs of India and other African countries for manufacturing medicines."

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