The Effects of Thermal Dry Cupping Therapy in Type II Diabetes Mellitus in Omani Patients

Abstract

Introduction: Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM) is a group of metabolic disorders characterized by insulin resistance. It's a multifactorial chronic disease and if not managed properly, it can lead to complications in both short-term and long-term incidences. These complications involve intensified blood cholesterol due to high incidence of blood glucose, which can lead to several complications. The gold standard treatment for T2DM is metformin, however other approaches have been studied in conjunction with the standard treatment, which can lead to improvement of cholesterol and blood sugar levels in diabetic patients in order to prevent further complications

Method: Thermal Dry Cupping Therapy was done using traditional glass cups on 30 T2DM patients, who have been diagnosed with diabetes for more than three years and are still using metformin. This method was repeated once a week for 4 weeks. Then fasting blood samples were obtained to measure the levels of blood glucose and lipid profile for total cholesterol levels, low density lipoprotein (LDL) and high density lipoprotein (HDL). Whereas the % of HAblc was determined by ELISA method.

Result: Post cupping measurements showed a significant decrease in fasting blood glucose measurements of 8.15 ± 1.09, % HAblc of 45.71±5.89, and a significant decrease in total cholesterol levels of 186.65±27.83 and low density lipoprotein (LDL) of 135.73±15.2, however an increase in high density lipoprotein (HDL) of 45.71±5.89 was observed.

Conclusion: The data suggest that several sessions of Thermal Dry Cupping therapy can decrease values of total cholesterol, low density lipoprotein, fasting blood glucose and percent of glycated haemoglobin. Hence, it might play a role in the improvement of impaired glucose metabolism, which can be beneficial as a complementary treatment for T2DM in Omani patients besides the standard treatment.