Benfotiamine and Diabetes
Diabetes is an insidious disease which is fraught with a number of serious complications which can be fatal if no control of blood glucose level is exercised. A regular control of blood sugar is an indispensable condition of a patient's well-being. To this effect vitamins of B-group have proved to be effective as thiamine supplements can reverse many of early diabetes-related complications.
Benfotiamine is a man-made form of thiamine (vitamin B1) which can produce beneficial effects on a patient's overall health condition. It is said to be the most effective medicine of this type because of its ability to reduce the level of advanced glycation end products in the body. Benfotiamine also lowers the amount of sugar in a patient's blood by decreasing sugar production and by burning sugar in the body. And as its effect is mostly therapeutical, benfotiamine may be used as a treatment for both types of diabetes thus helping insulin-dependent and insulin-independent patients.
Benfotiamine is ascribed the qualities of an efficacious remedy in preventing such complications as neuropathy and polyneuropathy, retinopathy and diabetic nephropathy as well as a number of diseases which often accompany diabetes: coronary diseases, high blood pressure, renal failure, nerve damage, strokes, etc. Besides, benfotiamine prevents macro- and micro vascular endothelial dysfunction accompanied by increased oxidative stress following a meal rich in glycation end products which is typical of type II diabetes. Among the beneficial effects of benforiamine it is also necessary to mention that it metabolizes quickly and does not accumulate in the body. Its absorption power has proved to be 5 times faster than that of any medication of the thiamine group because benfotiamine is fat-soluble and is readily accepted by the body whereas thiamine is water-soluble. In general, body function of a diabetic can be improved on application of benfotiamine as it enhances the therapeutic level of thiamine. Besides, benfotiamine is less toxic than common vitamin B.
Benfotiamine has shown no negative interactions with medications and does not seem to involve any side-effects. It is recommended to be taken with meals. The dosage usually prescribed is two 150 mg capsules a day. It can be modified as benfotiamine is safe at sensible daily usage and therefore can be used in higher doses than common vitamin B1. The first results usually appear in two or three weeks of using. The question of a safe dosage is still open. As well as there are no exact data about the effects of a long-term use of benfotiamine.
Still, the findings of the research into the effects of benfotiamine, which prove to be wide-scale, give hope when it comes to an increased number of indications for its use as a means of pathogenic treatment for diabetes.