Apart from diet and exercise, the strategic use of different classes of prescribed or non-prescribed xenobiotic compounds for the restoration of euglycemic levels in the body is well known. The ongoing rivalry between the recommended usage of allopathic medicines versus ayurvedic remedies has encouraged many researchers to focus their studies on thoroughly isolating and characterizing the extracts from different parts of plants and then evaluating their relative activities via in vitro, in vivo and in some cases clinical studies.

Alternative Medicines for Diabetes Management: Advances in Pharmacognosy and Medicinal Chemistry provides a holistic view of all oral therapies for diabetes mellitus that are available to the public by removing the silos and stigmas that are associated with both allopathic and ayurvedic medicines.

Additional Features Include:

• Highlights the potential role of dietary and medicinal plant materials in the prevention, treatment, and control of diabetes and its complications.
• Educates readers on the benefits and shortcomings of the various present and potential oral therapies for diabetes mellitus.
• Allows quick identification and retrieval of material by researchers learning the efficacy, associated dosage and toxicity of each of the classes of compounds.
• Presents the history, nomenclature, mechanisms of action and shortcomings for each of the various sub-classes of allopathic therapeutants for diabetes mellitus and then introduces ayurvedic medicines.
• Section C discusses various metallopharmaceuticals and provides a holistic view of all available and potential therapies for the disease.

Dr. Varma Hemant Rambaran - Associate Professor at the University of Trinidad and Tobago, Office of the Vice President of Research and Student Affairs (VP-RASA). He graduated from The University of the West Indies in 1999, with his Bachelor of Science in Chemistry, and later in 2005, obtained his Doctor of Philosophy degree in Inorganic Chemistry. During his years as a post graduate student, he developed a keen interest in the behaviour of Co-ordination complexes in biological systems. However, it was during his Post-Doctoral Fellowship at the University of Southern Mississippi that the ameliorative effects of vanadium based complexes in diabetes therapy caught his attention. Through the support of the International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (ICGEB), he was able to successfully explore and develop his idea of using a family of novel vanadyl complexes (PDOV and PYTOV) as insulin enhancing agents. The findings from his studies were awarded a patent by the United Stated Patent and Trademark Office in March 2021.

While working on his project, Dr. Rambaran noticed a partiality to certain medicines that were being prescribed to diabetic patients. The seemingly undying controversy over the superiority of Allopathic medicines versus their Ethno-pharmaceutical counterparts resulted in the polarization of many groups, due to their lack of awareness and understanding of the different forms of therapies. To further complicate matters, the majority of reference books on the market commonly lacked the supporting scientific data of compound identity, mechanism of action and safety in use. This unfortunately led to a bias against the use of herbal medicines. Inspired by this, Dr. Rambaran saw a need to furnish a comprehensive book of this nature that would impartially and holistically educate its readers on the oral therapeutic options that are available to them.

Nalini Kathleen Singh - Research Assistant, UTT, under the Office of VP-RASA. Ms. Singh's research interests fall under the umbrella of Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs), focusing mainly on the Epidemiology and Aetiology of Hypothyroidism. Her extended interest in Natural Medicines used in NCD therapies has warranted her invaluable contributions in this book. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Chemical and Process Engineering, which she obtained from UWI (St. Augustine Campus) in 2013. She also completed an OSHA - General Industry Training course at the School of Business and Computer Science (SBSC).