"My body has no insulin, therefore I am diabetic"! Or so western medicine has dictated ... and it is so. However, Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) has a different slant on the subject. While TCM has acknowledged the presence of ‘wasting and thirsting’ disease for centuries and so treated it, it does not look upon it as a uni-type disease. TCM takes diabetes and subdivides it into different types based upon what your main signs and symptoms are. Therefore, the treatment/management is more tailor-made for the patient’s needs. Not a bad thing ... if you ask me. 

In TCM, they divide the body into three parts from your top to your tukus: these are called 'jiao'. Some brilliant spark so named them Upper Jiao, Middle Jiao, and Lower Jiao. So, for a mental picture, imagine a dotted line at your diaphragm (in your chest!), and one below your stomach. Now your torso is divided into three jiao! 

The Upper Jiao is associated with thirst, the Middle Jiao with hunger, and the Lower Jiao with wee. If you think back to when you were diagnosed, or even think about yourself now, there was a whole group of symptoms that your doctor looked for to suggest diabetes, or that your control isn't too crash hot. The triad of these is thirst (polydipsia), hunger (polyphagia), and weeing lots (polyuria). You may have one or more of these symptoms, and TCM basically uses these to identify which jiao needs to be treated.  If you’re like me and could eat the proverbial horse, this is polyphagia, and TCM identifies my Middle Jiao as mainly needing attention. 

What the f...? i hear you say. Why would I use this when i already take insulin and watch what I eat (?) etc. Well, by taking herbal medicine, I can help control the hunger I am always feeling and therefore help regulate my diet and in-turn my diabetes. I can use acupuncture and Chinese massage on acupoints to help out here too - but that’s another article. In effect, TCM can help management of diabetes. It will not cure it, and you do have to keep taking your insulin. However, by using TCM diabetes therapy as a part of your daily 'thing', it can help you get better control of your body, and reap the benefits of a happier healthier you. 

Just remember, Chinese Doctors do it differently.