Nigella Sativa (Ns) Could it be a New Remedy for Type 1 Diabetic Patients

Abstract

Malak EAhmed, Hassan S Mohammed, Nahid M Hassan and Omer A Musa

Nigella sativa (NS) is a widely used medicinal plant throughout the world. Seeds and oil have a long history of folklore usage in various aspects of medicines and food. It has been used to treat a wide range of diseases including diabetes mellitus (DM). DM is a chronic incurable disease with high mortality and morbidity and increasing prevalence. The aim of this study was to investigate the hypoglycemic effect of (NS) in type 1 diabetic patients. 30 patients with type I diabetes aged 5 to 17 years were included in the study after consenting their parents. Their medical history was taken to confirm that they were fit in the last month and their FBG was measured. They were given NS (2gm per day) with yogurt, beside their regular treatment (insulin) without changing their dose or diet for 30 days. Fasting blood glucose (FBG) was rechecked after that and compared with the initial FBG paired t-test in Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) 22 software. The mean levels of FBS before and one month after the intervention were 259 ± 102 and 134 ± 70 mg/dl respectively. There was significant reduction in FBS after treatment with NS (P =0.000). In conclusion NS, a natural product, showed a significant improvement in FBG in type 1 diabetic patients. More studies are recommended in the future to determine the optimal dose, duration and frequency of NS as an antidiabetic drug, its mechanism of action in type1 diabetes and to search for the active antidiabetic ingredient as well as to study the effect of NS in prevention of diabetic complications.

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