Zinc may not have influence on diabetes

Although zinc supplement manufacturers and distribution companies have claimed that zinc pills could help to prevent the development of type 2 diabetes, a new study based on randomised clinical trials offers no proof.
The authors, whose report was published in The Cochrane Library Journal, were clear to point out that despite the negative results zinc could still have some role in the prevention of the disease . Zinc may help to promote insulin, as laboratory tests have shown.
Apparently, the lack of intense clinical trials means that the role of zinc in development of diabetes is not yet fully understood. To produce the results, the researchers analysed 192 clinical trials. However, in order to be included in the reviews, studies had to pass particular criteria, and only one study did.
Dr. Buse, a spokesman for the American Diabetes Associatio, commented: “It is important to recognise that this systematic review was left with one trial that treated 56 people with either zinc or a placebo for four weeks and found no effect. This single trial is too small and too short to really tell us anything about the effectiveness of zinc. Basically, we know nothing that can definitively guide clinicians in providing advice regarding zinc supplementation in diabetes.”