Co-administration of Complementary Therapies for Cardiovascular Disease Risk Reduction in Type 2 Diabetes

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the main cause of mortality in patients with type 2 diabetes (T2D). Selected dietary and herbal supplements with complementary mechanisms of action have been indicated in management of diabetes along with standard therapy. The objective of this thesis was to determine if a 24-weeks co-administration of 4 diet and herbal supplements will improve CVD risk factors beyond conventional therapy in T2D. The project consisted of a randomized, double-blind, controlled trial with two parallel groups involving 104 individuals with T2D (HbA1c: 70.05%) which were randomly assigned to test (10g viscous fiber, 60g Salba-Chia, 1.5g American and 0.75g Korean red ginseng extracts daily), or energy and fibre matched control (53g oat bran, 25g inulin, 25g maltodextrose and 2.25g wheat bran daily) for 24 weeks. Fasting blood was drawn at weeks 0, 12 and 24. Primary and secondary endpoints was change in HbA1c, blood pressure and serum lipids over 24 weeks. The study was conducted at two centres: St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto, Canada and Vuk Vrhovac University Clinic in Zagreb, Croatia. Results were computed using an intent-to-treat analysis with multiple imputations. Eighty-seven participants completed the trial (test n=44; control n=43). The test intervention significantly reduced HbA1c (0.270.13% (p=0.03) and 24-hour systolic blood pressure by 3.81.2 mmgHg (pPh.D.2021-10-30 00:00:0