Recent research supports a key role of vitamin B1 (in the form of thiamin, or the more bioavailable benfotiamine) in helping to reduce the risk of a variety of diabetic complications, including nerve damage and vascular disease. In diabetics, plasma levels of vitamin B1 are very low, about 75% lower than in non-diabetic individuals – making supplementation with this essential nutrient very important. A newly published study has now linked high-dose thiamin supplementation with reduced kidney damage in Type II diabetics.
Kidney damage, or diabetic nephropathy, affects 1 in 3 individuals with diabetes. Early-stage nephropathy is characterized by microalbuminuria – when small amounts of the protein albumin are leaked from the kidneys into the urine.
Forty individuals with type II diabetes and microalbuminuria were included in the study. Half of the individuals were given a high dose of thiamin (100mg, 3 times daily) while others received a placebo for three months. Albumin levels in the urine were measured at baseline, throughout the 3 month supplementation period, and following a 2 month washout period.
Individuals taking high-dose thiamine demonstrated a 41% decrease in albumin excretion in the urine. Furthermore, 35% of individuals had their urine albumin levels return to normal levels following supplementation with thiamin. This decrease was maintained even following the two month washout period. These results are significant, and suggest that vitamin B1 could help to reverse kidney damage associated with early-stage nephropathy in diabetics.
Rabbani N, Alam SS, Riaz S, Larkin JR, Akhtar MW, Shafi T, Thornalley PJ. High-dose thiamin therapy for patients with type 2 diabetes and microalbuminuria: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled pilot study. Diabetologia. 2008; Published online Dec. 5, 2008.
For more information see Benfotiamine
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