Nutritional supplements for diabetes sold on the internet: business or health promotion?

ABSTRACT:

Background

Diabetes is one of the most widespread chronic disease. Although many medications are available for the treatment and prevention of diabetes, many people turn to nutritional supplements (NSs). In these years, the online sales have contributed to the growth of use of nutritional supplement. The aim of the research was to investigate the type of information provided by sales websites on NSs, and analyse the existence of scientific evidence about some of the most common ingredients found in available NSs for diabetes.

Methods

A web search was conducted in April 2012 to identify web sites selling NSs in the treatment of diabetes using Google, Yahoo and Bing! and the key word used was "diabetes nutritional supplements". Website content was evaluated for the quality of

SUBMITTER: Covolo L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3766237 | biostudies-literature | 2013 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature