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For thousands of years, cinnamon has been used as a traditional treatment in China. However, there are no studies to date that investigate whether cinnamon supplements are able to aid in the treatment of type 2 diabetes in Chinese subjects. We hypothesized cinnamon should be effective in improving blood glucose control in Chinese patients with type 2 diabetes. To address this hypothesis, we performed a randomized, double-blinded clinical study to analyze the effect of cinnamon extract on glycosylated hemoglobin A(1c) and fasting blood glucose levels in Chinese patients with type 2 diabetes. A total of 66 patients with type 2 diabetes were recruited and randomly divided into 3 groups: placebo and low-dose and high-dose supplementation with cinnamon extract at 120 and 360 mg/d, respectively. Patients in all 3 groups took gliclazide during the entire 3 months of the study. Both hemoglobin A(1c) and fasting blood glucose levels were significantly reduced in patients in the low- and high-dose groups, whereas they were not changed in the placebo group. The blood triglyceride levels were also significantly reduced in the low-dose group. The blood levels of total cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and liver transaminase remained unchanged in the 3 groups. In conclusion, our study indicates that cinnamon supplementation is able to significantly improve blood glucose control in Chinese patients with type 2 diabetes.

Schizophrenia is a heterogeneous disorder with characteristic symptoms, including cognitive impairments that are associated with the illness and its outcome. Cognitive impairments include deficits in processing speed and working memory, inattention, and impaired problem-solving ability. These cognitive insufficiencies are considered to reflect the core of the disorder and to worsen as the disorder progresses, further impairing functioning. Novel approaches to treat cognitive impairments are greatly needed and transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) is a promising modality that may address these cognitive impairments. TDCS is a noninvasive, non-pharmacological neuromodulation technique that has demonstrated efficacy in improving attention processing in normal controls and in persons with diverse pathologies. By modulating cortical excitability, anodal (excitatory) tDCS to the Prefrontal Cortex (PFC) may facilitate access to existing PFC neural reserves in people with schizophrenia, potentially improving attention. However, this possibility has been only minimally investigated to date. Because cognitive deficits are the strongest determinant of poor functional outcomes in schizophrenia, the development of novel treatments and the combination of innovative neuromodulation and medication strategies to improve cognition and functional capacity are needed. In addition to reviewing cognitive impairments in schizophrenia, this article discusses the potential of tDCS targeting the PFC in patients. It also describes the use of measurement tools as proposed by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) initiative “Measurement and Treatment Research to Improve Cognition in Schizophrenia” (MATRICS), to improve attention processing and to isolate distinct cognitive disruptions in patients with schizophrenia. Recommendations are made for future research approaches.