Effect of Garlic on Dyslipidemic Patients with Diabetes Mellitus (Type 2)

Abstract

Back ground:  Garlic ( Allium sativum )  has  been  used  in  herbal  medicine   for  treatment   of    cardiovascular   diseases  risk  factors  such  as serum lipids , blood pressure  and  plasma  viscosity .

Aim: The  aim  of present study is to evaluate the effects of garlic on one of  the major cardiovascular  risk factors which is  dyslipidemia in patients  with type  2  diabetes  mellitus .

Materials    and   Methods: Type 2 diabetic   patients   with dyslipidemia were enrolled in this study.   It   covered 50 patients (35 males and 15 females) whose ages ranged between (40 – 75)     years. Twenty clinically healthy individuals were included as a control group at the same above ages. Diabetic patients given garlic for period of  6 weeks  and  12  weeks after which their serum lipid profiles where measured  after  fasting   for  12  hours   and  comparisons  was  made between the treated and  untreated  patients .

Results: It was found that the patients had a significant reduction in    both   total   cholesterol (TC) and triglycerides (TG) (the main contributing factors to arteriosclerosis) in comparisons to the control group. The administration of garlic ( 1000 mg ) lowers the levels of low density lipoproteins cholesterol  ( LDL – C  ) and raise the concentrations of high density lipoproteins cholesterol  (HDL – C)  and  so for the very low density  lipoproteins  cholesterol (VLDL–C)   if compared  with that  of   the   control   group .

Conclusion:   Garlic   may   play   an    important   role   in    the treatment    of dyslipidemic patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus.