Traditional Chinese Medical Body Constitution, Its Related Clinical Characteristics, And Diabetes-associated Chronic Complications In Patients With Type 2 Diabetes

Objectives To study status of the traditional Chinese medical(TCM) body constitution(BC) and the combination of its components of patients with type 2 diabetes, to analyzed clinical factors that are related to the TCM BC and if the TCM BC contributed to development of chronic diabetic complications.Methods Questionnaires were collected from 372 patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus(T2DM) admitted for poor glycemic control. The questionnaire used was the Constitution in Chinese Medicine Questionnaire(CCMQ) developed by Wang Qi et al. in Mainland China,by consensus among experts in TCM BC types. It has 67 items measuring the 9 BC types:gentleness, Qi-deficiency, Yang-deficiency, Yin-deficiency, phlegm-wetness, wetness-heat,blood-stasis, Qi-depression, and special diathesis. Clinical data were retrieved, including gender, age, height, body mass index(BMI), systolic pressure, diastolic pressure, biochemical indexes, high sensitive C reactive protein(hsCRP). Diabetic chronic complications,neuropathy, retinopathy, nephropathy, and arterial atherosclerosis were diagnosed according to Guideline of diabetes management by Chinese diabetes Society(2013). SPSS softwar(ver 19)was used for statistics analysis.ResultsThe distribution of the 9 types of TCM BC in patients with T2 DM was 40.9% patients manifested as Qi deficiency, 35.5% phlegm dampness, 30.4% Yin deficiency, 29.8%wetness-heat, 28% Yang deficiency, 20.4% Qi depression, 10.8% special diathesis, 15.3%blood stasis, and 16.1% gentleness. The main types of TCM BC were Qi deficiency, Yin deficiency, phlegm dampness, wetness-heat, Yang deficiency.The rate of Qi deficiency, Yang deficiency, Yin deficiency, and phlegm dampness was higher in women than in men, while the rate of wetness-heat was higher in men than in women. Patients with Yang deficiency was elder, those with wetness-heat was younger compared with other types of BC. Patients with wetness-heat was the tallest compared with others. Rate of overweight and obesity in patients with Qi deficiency was the highest,followed by Yang deficiency, phlegm dampness. There were no significant differences in blood pressure, hsCRP among the patients with different BC. No significant differences were found among patients with different BC for diabetes-associated chronic complications.ConclusionsThe main types of TCM BC in patients with type 2 diabetes were Qi deficiency, Yin deficiency, phlegm dampness, wetness-heat, Yang deficiency. The distribution of BC are associated with gender, age, height, and body weight. No association of TCM BC was found with diabetes-associated chronic complications, but further studies are needed.