Krishnasree Ratheesan
Grade X,
SIS Sharjah
(D/o V. Ratheesan, 1978 ECE)
A research team from Warwick University tested the effect
of vitamin B1 (thiamine), which is found in meat, yeast and grain, on 40
patients from Pakistan.
The treatment stopped the loss of a key protein in the urine,
the
journal Diabetologia reports. The latest findings build on earlier
work by the Warwick University team; shows that many diabetes patients have a
deficiency of thiamine.
According to the researchers, this cheap and readily available
supplement could benefit most people diabetes-both type 1 and type 2-as between
70% and 90% of people with diabetes are thiamine deficient. In diabetes the
small blood vessel in the body can become damaged.
Compiled
by
When the blood vessels that supply blood to the kidneys are
involved, the kidneys stop working correctly and important proteins such as
albumin are lost from the blood into the urine.
A third of the
patients in the study saw a return to normal urinary albumin excretion after
being treated with high dose (300 mg) thiamine taken orally each day for three
months.
The experts say thiamine works by helping cells against the
harmful effects of the high blood sugar levels found in diabetes. But they are
not ready at this stage to advocate the use of vitamin supplements to reduce
kidney complications as well.
