Diabetes mellitus is a complex metabolic disorder resulting from either insulin insufficiency or insulin dysfunction. Diabetes mellitus affects most of the people in both developed and developing countries. The treatment of diabetes with synthetic drugs is costly and chances of side effects are high. Phytomedicine has been used since ancient times in various parts of the world where access to modern medicine is limited. Medicinal plants and phytoconstituents play an important role in the management of diabetes mellitus especially in developing countries where resources are meagre. Phytochemicals identified from medicinal plants present an exciting opportunity for the development of new types of therapeutics for diabetes mellitus. Most prevalent among phytochemical groups are the alkaloids, glycosides, polysaccharides, and phenolics such as flavonoids, terpenoids and steroids. Despite considerable progress in the development of synthetic drugs, the discovery of phytomedicine as an alternative therapy is progressing. This article aims to provide a comprehensive review on various plant species from globe and their constituents, which have been shown to display potent hypoglycemic activity.

Herbs help in healing and treating the root cause of the ailment by rejuvenating the system in protecting from chronic diseases like Diabetes thus helping in leading a better quality of life, hence this study is aimed at comparing the quality of life assessment of patients taking herbal medicine and allopathic medicine using generic and disease specific tools [SF-36-V2-Short form health survey and QOLID (Quality of life of Indian Diabetic Patients)]which helped in identifying the influence of various life domains in diabetic patients and a better understanding of the treatment goal of herbs in diabetes. Significant difference in the outcomes scores in between treatment groups, indicate that herbal treatment is far better in terms of quality of life of specific domains VT (Vitality), BP (Bodily Pain), MH (Mental Health), GH (General Health) and PF (Physical Functioning) compared to the allopathic treatment.

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In recent years, diabetes has become a major health concern. India is referred to as the diabetes capital of the world. There are plenty of chemical agents available to monitor and treat diabetic patients, but up to this date, no complete recovery from diabetes has been recorded. Many herbal plants with hypoglycemic properties are known from around the world as an alternative to these synthetic agents; which is a natural remedy to keep the blood sugar under control by consuming vegetables & herbs in our diet. Such medicinal plants & their herbal preparation with proven antidiabetic and related beneficial effects were used in the treatment of diabetes in rats. The effect of polyherbal drug Anti-hyperglycemic activity is studied in rats against alloxaninduced diabetes. This polyherbal drug consists of 16 antidiabetic plants. Disorders in diabetes-induced glucose metabolism have been shown to be regulated. The present study was conducted in the Dept. of Pharmacology and Dept. of Biochemistry at Central Animal House Facility of the SBH Govt Medical College, Dhule, in collaboration with Datta Meghe Medical College, (Datta Meghe Institute of Medical Sciences Sawangi, Meghe) Nagpur, Maharashtra, India. After the treatment, fasting blood glucose, plasma insulin and glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c) were determined in normal and experimental rats. Polyherbal mixture was seen to be an effective and safe method for management of diabetes which reduces blood sugar levels & shows positive effect in altering blood glucose levels. The herbal formulation could be lowering the insulin resistance, thereby normalizing the uptake of glucose by cells.