Ayurvedic medicine may help Alzheimers
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.”
Alzheimer’s disease is the most common form of dementing illness especially among middle and older adults,affecting more than 4 million Americans and many millions worldwide. What must be noted - where curcumin is part of staple diet like in India; people aged 70-79 are 4.4 times less like to have the disease than the rate in the United States.