Treating Diabetes With R Alpha Lipoic Acid

People suffering from diabetes are at risk for other health complications such as heart disease, diabetic retinopathy and neuropathy, or nerve damage. Keeping blood sugar under control is crucial in preventing health complications. Diet and exercise go a long way in not only sugar control, but in preventing complications as well. Taking a potent antioxidant supplement called R alpha lipoic acid, also known as thioctic acid, is showing promise in helping control sugar levels and preventing cell damage that causes neuropathy and diabetic retinopathy.

Diabetic Neuropathy

• One of the complications with diabetes is neuropathy, which is a nerve disorder causing numbness or pain in the feet or hands associated with high sugar levels in diabetics. A German clinical study by Dr. Dan Ziegler and colleagues from Heinrich Heine University in Dusseldorf (see References below) found that diabetics who took high doses of intravenous R alpha lipoic acid showed improvement in the painful symptoms of neuropathy.

  R alpha lipoic acid is a very potent antioxidant supplement that is available in food such as red meat and vegetables, but not in significant, beneficial amounts. Antioxidants help eliminate free radicals, which form when weak molecules lose electrons and attack other molecules, eventually resulting in cell damage. Antioxidants, such as alpha lipoic acid, and Vitamins E and C neutralize these free radicals. R Alpha lipoic acid also regenerates and extends the antioxidant properties of Vitamins E and C (see References below).

Diabetic Retinopathy

• Diabetic retinopathy, which is damage to blood vessels in the retina, is another complication of diabetes due to high sugar levels. Research is showing R alpha lipoic acid helps prevent or treat retinopathy in diabetics, according to Research to Prevent Blindness USA (rpbusa.org).

  Human studies are still going on regarding the benefits of R alpha lipoic acid, but studies of rats in diabetic research show the antioxidant R alpha lipoic acid is effective in protecting nerve cells from damage in the eye and in the prevention and treatment of diabetic neuropathy, according to diabetesjournals.org.

  Researchers induced retinopathy in rats by inducing diabetes or elevating their blood sugar for 30 weeks, according to biomedexperts.com (see Resources below). After the 30 weeks of induced diabetes, the rats receiving R alpha lipoic acid showed an 88 percent reduction in retinal damage compared with those receiving a placebo or no treatment. Damage to pericytes (a specific type of cell) lessened within rats given 60 mg of R alpha lipoic acid.

Blood Sugar Levels

• More encouraging studies with R alpha lipoic acid show R alpha lipoic acid increases insulin sensitivity in patients with Type 2 diabetes, although it has little or no effect on those with Type 1 diabetes, according to the National Center for Biotechnology Information (see Resources below).

  No indications of severe side effects from R alpha lipoic acid have been observed, but it is suggested that if you want to take the antioxidant, you should check your sugar levels often if you are a diabetic as it can result in low blood sugar, especially if you are on insulin or other diabetic medications.

  Other studies with R alpha lipoic acid include possible treatments for Alzheimer's disease, heart disease and cancer, and may have some anti-aging properties because of the antioxidant's properties protecting nerve and other cells from damage due to oxidation.