ated blood glucose levels leading to "circulatory shock" or a reduction in cardiac reserve as a result of cellular and extracellular dehydration.
The International Diabetes Center (2004) reports that there are a wide variety of medical treatments available for people with diabetes but that they all have the same medical goals which are keeping blood glucose levels within a given range, helping a person to feel better both physically and emotionally, preventing, delaying or slowing the progression of the disease, and helping the person to manage the illness within their particular lifestyles. However, medical treatments can often be accompanied by a variety of complementary or adjunct treatments, one of which is massage.
Indeed, Ezzo, Donner, Nikols and Cox (2001) state that massage is one of the fastest growing complementary therapies in the United States for a wide variety of conditions and diseases. In their study, the authors conducted a comprehensive search of the literature on the use of massage for diabetic patients. They found that the literature indicated that massage, when applied at the sites of injection, can increase insulin absorption. The authors also observed that there is some support for massage having a positive effect on blood glucose levels as well as upon the symptoms of diabetic neuropathy.
Despite the foregoing positive outcomes for the effects of massage as a complementary therapy for diabetes, Ezzo, Donner, Nikols and Cox (2001) stated that there is a good deal of the existing research that is methodologically problematic. In other to ensure that a complete understanding of the effects of massage was attained, the authors recommended that additional research be undertaken, research consisting of randomized, placebo-controlled studies.
Similarly, Dey (2002) reports that massage has been associated with positive outcomes in patients with type 2 diabetes, particularly if the patient utilizes a va...