| Ampalaya can cure diabetes, says DoH |
| Tuesday, March 6, 2007 |
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The efficacy of ampalaya or bitter gourd in treating diabetes was officially announced by the Department of Health (DoH) yesterday. It cited a 10-year study that found out that the vegetable can effectively regulate blood sugar in the same way as a regular anti-diabetes drug. Results of the study conducted by the Philippine Council for Health Research and Development (PCHRD) elevated the ampalaya from a mere nutritional supplement to a real medicine. The study has been certified by the Philippine Institute of Traditional and Alternative Health Care (PITAHC). "We compared ampalaya leaves with an anti-diabetes drug, and we found out that ampalaya has the same effect on the patient. It means the action of ampalaya on blood sugar is equivalent to the action of the medicine," Dr. Cirilo Galindez, PITAHC director general, said. "According to the study, it even has more blood sugar lowering effect," DoH Undersecretary Jade del Mundo said. The study revealed that a 100 milligram per kilo dose per day is comparable to 2.5 milligrams of the anti-diabetes drug Glibenclamide taken twice per day, Del Mundo said. In 2003, ampalaya was omitted from the list of government-recognized medicinal plants, and was demoted from being a scientifically validated medicinal plant to folkloric. Former Health Secretary Dr. Jaime Galvez Tan said this happened because previous scientific studies were not enough to support the medicinal purposes of ampalaya. The DoH has issued an order reinstating ampalaya as an effective medicine for Type 2 diabetes or diabetes mellitus. Other plants recognized by the government as medicinal and marketed locally include lagundi (for fever, asthma, and headache), sambong (for gaseous stomach, fever, headache, and aromatic bath), acapulco (as wound wash and for itch), yerba buena (for cough, toothache, dizziness, fainting, hysteria, and arthritis), bayabas (guava), and "tsaang gubat." |
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