Benfotiamine and Thiamin to reduce the likelihood and effects of complications

tim2000s

Expert
Retired Moderator
Messages
8,934
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Other
Following a thread posted elsewhere on the forum, I ended up reading a number of research papers or presentations that looked at the polyol pathways and the mechanisms by which these cause issues with complications (this is one of them ).

Given the mechanisms involved, it raised a couple of questions to me that I haven't found answered. The main one being why Benfotiamine and Thiamin are not recommended to all diabetics as supplements more frequently. There seems to be a decent amount of research that points to these substances having benefit, but no clinical trials amongst diabetic patients, which is why NICE would not allow NHS health practitioners to recommend them, and they therefore fall into an alternative therapy state.

Has anyone tried using these supplements to reduce the risk of or improve the symptoms of diabetic complications?