A Meta-Analysis of the Association between Diabetes Mellitus and Traditional Chinese Medicine Constitution

Abstract

Objective. To explore the distribution of constitution types of diabetes mellitus (DM) in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) and to provide evidence-based medicine basis for the prevention and treatment of diabetes. Methods. PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, and three Chinese databases were searched to include research literature on the relationship between diabetes and TCM constitution. The single rate study of cross-sectional literature was conducted with RStudio software, and the control meta-analysis of the diabetic and nondiabetic population was performed with Review Manager 5.3 software. Two independent reviewers assessed the methodological quality of the studies’ data. The main outcomes included the distribution of constitutional types in the diabetic population and the odds ratio (OR) between the two. Effect sizes are expressed as proportions or ORs with 95% confidence intervals (CI). Results. A total of 28,781 diabetic cases were included in 87 articles. Yin-deficiency, phlegm-dampness, and qi-deficiency accounted for 18% (95% CI (15%, 20%), P < 0.01 ), 17% (95% CI (15%, 19%), P < 0.01 ), and 13% (95% CI (11%, 15%), P < 0.01 ) of the total diabetic cases. The risk of diabetes in people with yin-deficiency and phlegm-dampness was 3.06 (95% CI (1.38–6.78), P = 0.006 ) and 1.89 (95%CI (1.05–3.42), P = 0.03 ) times higher than that in those with other constitutions, respectively. The distribution of TCM constitution of DM patients varied significantly in different regions and ages. Conclusion. Yin-deficiency and phlegm-dampness are the common constitution types of diabetic people, and they may also be the risk factors of diabetes. Balanced constitution may be a protective factor of diabetes. More high-quality cohort and case-control studies need to be designed to provide more valuable evidence-based basis for assessing the correlation between DM and TCM constitution.

Association between the traditional Chinese medicine constitution and metabolic dysfunction-associated fatty liver disease in older people: A cross-sectional study

“…Therefore, the PDC was one of the common types of TCMC in the Lingnan area. The PDC has been shown to be a high-risk factor for several chronic metabolic diseases, such as hyperlipidemia, DM, and NAFLD [ 14 , 34 , 35 ], and is considered to be a “common soil” for endocrine, nutritional, and metabolic diseases [ 35 ]. Based on TCM theory, MAFLD is caused mainly by the interaction of the PDC and abnormal function of the liver and spleen.…”

Traditional Chinese Medicine constitution types of high-normal blood pressure: A meta-analysis

“…This study found that the distribution of TCM constitution in people with high-normal BP was different from other diseases, such as diabetes mellitus, and dyslipidemia. Yin -deficiency constitution, phlegm-dampness constitution, and Qi -deficiency constitution were the common constitution types of diabetic people [ 42 ], the top three TCM constitutions of dyslipidemia were phlegm-dampness constitution, Qi -deficiency constitution, and Yang -deficiency constitution [ 43 ], these indicated that there were differences in the distribution of TCM constitutions among different diseases. Professor Sun pointed out that from health to pro-disease, the fundamental reason lies in constitution changes, and that the biased constitution was the internal basis of pre-disease [ 44 ].…”

“…The most common constitution of people with high-normal BP in South China was the phlegm-dampness constitution, while the most common constitution in North China was the Yang -deficiency constitution, which may be related to the climatic characteristics of different regions. The climate in South China is warm and humid, and residents are easy to generate phlegm, and dampness, which may lead to more people with phlegm-dampness [ 42 ]. However, the climate in North China is cool and dry, which may not easily generate phlegm or dampness, thus having less influence on the health of residents [ 43 ].…”

DIA‐PRM Proteomic Analysis of Phlegm‐Dampness Constitution with Glucolipid Metabolic Disorders by the Intervention of Hua Tan Qu Shi Recipe

“…According to clinical presentations, TCM constitution could be categorized as nine types: inherited special constitution, balance constitution, blood stasis constitution, damp-heat constitution, yin-deficiency constitution, phlegm-dampness constitution, qi-stagnation constitution, qi-deficiency constitution, and yang-deficiency constitution [20]. Because of the clinical correlation between phlegm-dampness constitution with GLMD, scientific studies of phlegm-dampness constitution have attracted the keen interest of many research groups globally [21]. Based on these findings, we hypothesized that the intervention of phlegmdampness constitution might provide a novel strategy to treat GLMD.…”