Diabetes mellitus is not only a chronic metabolic disease but also a growing public health problem. Its prevalence is increasing globally and is particularly evident in developing countries. It has become or is becoming the third most serious chronic non-communicable disease after tumors and vascular diseases in both developed and developing countries, causing great harm to people’s physical and mental health, and is listed by the World Health Organization as one of the three most persistent diseases in the world. China is the second country with the highest number of people suffering from diabetes after India. The number of diabetic patients in China is about 40 million, and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) accounts for 93.7% of the total number of patients, so its medical cost can be imagined.
It is well known that insulin resistance and cellular dysfunction are the basis for the development of type 2 diabetes. One study confirmed that 69.7% of type 2 diabetic patients have insulin resistance. In addition to genetic factors, obesity and inactivity become the most important reasons for insulin resistance in most patients.
Diabetes mellitus belongs to the category of thirst in Chinese medicine. According to the characteristics of thirst, the basic treatment methods of clearing heat and moistening the lung, clearing the stomach and fire, nourishing the yin and fixing the kidney, and generating fluid to quench thirst have been developed. However, from different perspectives, such as phlegm, blood stasis, liver fire, spleen deficiency, internal toxicity, etc., the methods of resolving phlegm, activating blood stasis, clearing heat from the liver, strengthening the spleen, and detoxifying fire are used. I believe that with the development of society and the abundance of material life, people are not disciplined in their diet and prefer thick flavors, resulting in an increasing number of patients with damp-heat trapped spleen type of diabetes. And some studies have confirmed that there is significant insulin resistance in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus with damp heat. As early as in “Su Wen Qi Qi Disease Theory”, it is said that this person must have eaten sweet and fatty food, and fat makes internal heat, and sweet makes the middle full, so his Qi is reversed and turns into thirst. Jing Yue Quan Shu” cloud thirst disease, the origin of the disease, are fat and sweet changes, alcohol and labor injury, are fat and expensive people sick, but the poor less. Therefore, in addition to the above treatment rules, in the early stage of type 2 diabetes mellitus, spleen deficiency is the main cause and damp heat is the standard.