BACKGROUND Diabetes mellitus (DM) is a major public health problem and one of the most challenging diseases worldwide. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) has the second highest rate of diabetes in the Middle East and seventh highest globally. Some diabetic patients may prefer to use alternative approaches such as herbal remedies to control their blood glucose level and this study aims to assess the prevalence of herbal usage and to evaluate users' and doctors' knowledge, attitudes and beliefs about herbal medicine as well as the patient/doctor relationship in this regard. METHOD A cross-sectional survey was conducted in several hospitals and medical centres in Makkah, KSA, between January and March 2019. Around 289 type II diabetic patients and 105 doctors were interviewed. RESULTS We found that 68% of the participants were frequent consumers of herbal remedies, especially cinnamon, ginger and fenugreek. Patients' knowledge of herbal usage was mainly gleaned from family and friends as well as social media, and we found that many (71.4%) did not bother to consult or inform their doctors about their choice to self-medicate with herbs. Patients had no concerns regarding the efficacy and safety of herbal usage use in diabetes, as around half of the participants believe that herbal medicine is effective (54%) and safe (46%) for treating symptoms of diabetes. Two-thirds of the doctors (66%) routinely ask patients whether they use herbs for their condition. Although 25% of the doctors took a positive view of herbal medicine in relation to diabetes, others expressed concerns with the rise in herb use and want to see more attention paid to safety aspects. CONCLUSION The study concludes that herbal remedies are commonly used by diabetic patients and that a gap exists in the relationship between patients and doctors concerning the disclosure of herbal remedy use and views on its safety.

中文翻译：

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从II型糖尿病患者和医师的角度看草药：是什么关系？

背景技术糖尿病（DM）是主要的公共卫生问题，并且是全世界最具挑战性的疾病之一。根据世界卫生组织（WHO）的统计，沙特阿拉伯王国（KSA）的糖尿病在中东地区排名第二，在全球范围内排名第七。一些糖尿病患者可能更喜欢使用其他方法，例如草药疗法来控制其血糖水平，本研究旨在评估草药的使用率，并评估使用者和医生对草药以及药物的知识，态度和信念。在这方面的患者/医生关系。方法2019年1月至3月之间，在KSA麦加的多家医院和医疗中心进行了横断面调查。约289名II型糖尿病患者和105位医生接受了采访。结果我们发现68％的参与者经常使用草药，特别是肉桂，生姜和胡芦巴。患者对草药使用的了解主要来自家人，朋友以及社交媒体，我们发现许多（71.4％）的人不愿意向医生咨询或告知他们选择使用草药进行自我药物治疗的信息。患者无需担心在糖尿病中使用草药的功效和安全性，因为大约一半的参与者认为草药可有效治疗糖尿病症状（54％）和安全性（46％）。三分之二的医生（66％）会定期询问患者是否根据情况使用草药。尽管25％的医生对与糖尿病有关的草药持肯定态度，其他人则对草药的使用增加表示关注，并希望看到更多对安全性方面的关注。结论该研究得出结论，糖尿病患者通常使用草药，而且在公开草药使用及其安全性方面，患者与医生之间的关系存在差距。