Vitamin B1 Supplements Helpful in People with Type-2 Diabetes

Researchers from England and Pakistan have reported that large amounts of supplemental vitamin B1 (thiamine) can reduce microalbuminuria in patients with type-2 diabetes. Microalbuminuria refers to excess urinary excretion of albumin, a protein, usually indicating kidney damage.

Paul J. Thornalley, PhD, of the University of Warwick, and his colleagues treated 21 men and 19 women with type-2 diabetes and microalbuminuria. They gave the subjects either 100 mg of vitamin B1 or placebos three times daily for three months.

Excretion of albumin decreased by an average of 41 percent among people taking vitamin B1. Furthermore, 35 percent of the patients with microalbuminuria had a return of normal albumin excretion rates after taking the vitamin.

"Further studies are now required to confirm this encouraging pilot-scale outcome that high-dose thiamine reverses early-stage nephropathy in type-2 diabetes," wrote Thornalley and his colleagues.

Reference: Rabbani N, Alam SS, Riaz S, et al. "High-dose thiamine therapy for patients with type-2 diabetes and microalbuminuria: a randomised, double-blind placebo-controlled pilot study." Diabetologia, 2009;52:208-212.