Role of Guggulupanchapala Choornam in Managing the Complications of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus: A Review

Abstract

Diabetes mellitus is a metabolic disorder characterised by hyperglycaemia resulting from defects in insulin secretion, insulin action or both. The disease is classified based on physiological status, mainly categorised into type 1 and type 2. Recent studies show that type 2 diabetes mellitus is being considered as being caused due to the impairment in the immune system, which has already been explored as one of the reasons causing diabetes or prameha in Ayurveda. The patients of prameha inherently carry the risk of impaired agni and depleted ojas status, that is, hypometabolic and immuno-compromised state. The primary goal is not merely to achieve normoglycemia but also to minimise its complications. In this context, many Ayurvedic drugs are undergoing extensive research. The chronic complications of diabetes are broadly divided into microvascular and macrovascular, with the former having a much higher prevalence than the latter. Microvascular complications include neuropathy, nephropathy, and retinopathy, while macrovascular complications include cardiovascular disease, stroke, and peripheral artery disease (PAD). This choornam is presumed to act as an agent to clear occlusions in the microvascular and macrovascular vessels, and this article intends to delve deeper into the mode of action of Guggulupanchapala choornam in breaking the samprapathi of prameha and its associated comorbidities. This article is an attempt to shed some light on the application of Guggulupanchapala choornam in the treatment of prameha and thereby reducing the various complications which follow it.