Photo Credit: Drazen

The following is a summary of “Incorporating Complementary Therapies Into Diabetes Care,” published in the February 2025 issue of Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism by Blanchette et al. 

Diabetes care programs and guidelines emphasized self-care behaviors but had not integrated complementary therapies, which have shown positive metabolic and glycemic effects.  

Researchers conducted a retrospective study to describe effective complementary diabetes therapies, identify evidence gaps, and recommend their integration into care.  

They searched PubMed and Google Scholar for studies from 2004 to 2024. Inclusion criteria focused on clinical trials using the search terms “diabetes self-management” OR “metabolic outcomes” OR “diabetes” OR “type of complementary therapy (music therapy, mindfulness, yoga, or art therapy)” OR “population (type 1 diabetes (T1D), type 2 diabetes (T2D), prediabetes, diabetes).”  

The results showed that complementary therapies (music therapy, mindfulness, yoga, or art therapy) benefited individuals with diabetes by improving psychological and cardiometabolic outcomes. These therapies enhanced the Association of Diabetes Care and Education Specialists (ADCES) 7 Self-Care Behaviors for diabetes self-management, particularly in healthy coping, monitoring, reducing risks, and problem-solving. However, critical gaps included the absence of large-scale randomized controlled trials (RCTs) in North American diabetes self-management education programs.  

Investigators concluded that complementary therapies offer benefits for diabetes management, further large-scale trials were needed, and could be integrated into education to support self-management. 

Source: academic.oup.com/jcem/article/110/Supplement_2/S137/8042166