Traditional Medicine and Its Role in the Management of Diabetes Mellitus: “Patients’ and Herbalists’ Perspectives”

Table 3

Summary of perspectives on diabetes provided by participants in the focus group discussions and in-depth interviews.

Theme	Data source	Participants’ Key message	Participants’ remark
Perception and understanding of diabetes	FGDs and IDIs	This is a disease caused by lifestyle, particularly unhealthy eating habits.	Lifestyle affects one’s personal health in a variety of ways.
Foods that cause diabetes	FGDs and IDIs	Diabetes is caused by a high intake of carbohydrates such as sugar, sweets, rice, potatoes, alcohol, Coke. Foods grown with fertilizer also cause diabetes.	A diet that contains a lot of vegetables can help to keep diabetes under control.
			Some participants believed that drinking lots of water can overcome the adverse effects of carbohydrates and chemicals or toxins in the diet.
		Rice raises blood glucose levels because of its high carbohydrate content.	Rinsing rice several times, or soaking it in water, can remove carbohydrates.
Preferred type(s) of treatment	FGDs	Medicines prescribed by a physician and traditional medicines can be used interchangeably.	Most diabetic participants were looking for a treat of diabetes, and believed that the use of conventional medicines and traditional medicines is the most effective option.

FGD, focus group discussion; IDI, in-depth interview.