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A herbal supplement has been shown to effectively heal chronic diabetic foot ulcers and save the affected legs from being amputated according to a report in this month’s Hong Kong Medical Journal.
In Limb salvage in extensive diabetic foot ulceration: an extended study using a herbal supplement by PC Leung et al, the authors describe how 80 diabetic patients in two Hong Kong general hospitals were randomly given either a traditional Chinese herbal drink or a placebo (dummy) version, twice daily.
Neither the hospital staff nor the patients knew who was receiving the real treatment but both groups (there were 40 patients in each group) were given standard medical and surgical care, including antidiabetic treatment, regular wound cleaning with antiseptic baths and removal of dead tissue and gangrenous toes if necessary.
Orthopaedic surgeons had assessed all 80 patients on the trial and had decided the only cure was to have their legs amputated because the ulcers were not healing, were very extensive, and were associated with gangrene. Most patients had some gangrene in their toes. At the end of the trial, it was found that the herbal supplement enabled 85% of the patients to keep their legs.
Because there was a clear difference in ulcer healing after four weeks, those patients on the placebo whose ulcers were not improving were swapped over to the herbal supplement. This enabled them to heal and not have to suffer amputation.
The team researching the use of herbal supplements in diabetic ulcers had already done a preliminary trial to see if success claimed by a Shanghai hospital could be replicated in Hong Kong. The preliminary trial showed the herbal supplement appeared to improve healing rates but the Hong Kong team, from the Chinese University of Hong Kong wanted to use a double-blind scientific trial to make certain the supplement was effective.
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