Curcumin: The Indian Solid Gold.

Aggarwal BB, Sundaram C, Malani N, Ichikawa H.

Department of Experimental Therapeutics, The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX 77030, USA. aggarwal@mdanderson.org

Turmeric, derived from the plant Curcuma longa, is a gold-colored spice commonly used in the Indian subcontinent, not only for health care but also for the preservation of food and as a yellow dye for textiles. Curcumin, which gives the yellow color to turmeric, was first isolated almost two centuries ago, and its structure as diferuloylmethane was determined in 1910. Since the time of Ayurveda (1900 Bc) numerous therapeutic activities have been assigned to turmeric for a wide variety of diseases and conditions, including those of the skin, pulmonary, and gastrointestinal systems, aches, pains, wounds, sprains, and liver disorders. Extensive research within the last half century has proven that most of these activities, once associated with turmeric, are due to curcumin. Curcumin has been shown to exhibit antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antiviral, antibacterial, antifungal, and anticancer activities and thus has a potential against various malignant diseases, diabetes, allergies, arthritis, Alzheimer’s disease, and other chronic illnesses. These effects are mediated through the regulation of various transcription factors, growth factors, inflammatory cytokines, protein kinases, and other enzymes. Curcumin exhibits activities similar to recently discovered tumor necrosis factor blockers (e.g., HUMIRA, REMICADE, and ENBREL), a vascular endothelial cell growth factor blocker (e.g., AVASTIN), human epidermal growth factor receptor blockers (e.g., ERBITUX, ERLOTINIB, and GEFTINIB), and a HER2 blocker (e.g., HERCEPTIN). Considering the recent scientific bandwagon that multitargeted therapy is better than monotargeted therapy for most diseases, curcumin can be considered an ideal “Spice for Life”.

PMID: 17569205 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

Extract taken from pubmed.com - for more on Curcumin and where to buy it in a handy supplement see: Ayurvedic Medicine - click here

Curcumin, the yellow pigment in curry spice, is to be investigated for its potential in prevention of Alzheimer’s disease after initial tests on mice found it to be more effective than drugs currently being investigated for treatment.

A dietary staple of India, where Alzheimer’s disease rates are reportedly among the world’s lowest -curcumin appears to block and break up brain plaques that cause the disease. Now with Curcumin98 -its is even more bio-avialable for absorbtion with the addition bioperine. The spice has also been found to correct the cystic fibrosis defect in mice, prevent the onset of alcoholic liver disease and may slow down the blood cancer multiple myeloma as well as multiple sclerosis - so this new formula may help many more people in the future.

Reporting a few years ago from the online edition of the Journal of Biological Chemistry, researchers from the University of California Los Angeles have also revealed that curcumin is actually more effective in inhibiting formation of the protein fragments than previous methodologies being tested as Alzheimer’s treatments.

Curcumin’s low molecular weight and polar structure of allow it to penetrate the blood-brain barrier much more effectively and bind to beta amyloid (which form the disease-causing plaques).
In earlier studies published during 2001, the same research team found that this wonderful curcumin also has powerful antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties, which scientists feel helps ease Alzheimer’s symptoms which is often mainly caused by oxidation and inflammation.
Research has prompted the UCLA Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center (ADRC) to begin human clinical trials to further evaluate its protective and therapeutic effects:

“The prospect of finding a safe and effective new approach to both prevention and treatment of Alzheimer’s disease is tremendously exciting,” said principal investigator Gregory Cole

Professor of medicine and neurology at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and associate director of the UCLA Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center.

“Curcumin has been used for thousands of years as a safe anti-inflammatory in a variety of ailments as part of Indian traditional medicine,” Cole added.

“Recent successful studies in animal models support a growing interest in its possible use for diseases of ageing involving oxidative damage and inflammation like Alzheimer’s, cancer and heart disease. What we really need, however, are clinical trials to establish safe and effective doses in aging patients.”

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