Turmeric
May Help Prevent Alzheimer’s
June
08,
2009
The herb Turmeric, also known
as Curcumin, might help fight Alzheimer’s disease, according
to initial stages of a study and mounting evidence. The yellowish spice
is a core ingredient in curry, and tests on laboratory rats have
provided evidence that curry helps prevent dementia. Currently a human
clinical trial is under way in California.
Dr. Murali Doraiswamy, director
of the mental fitness laboratory at the Duke University Medical
Center's psychiatry department, told a conference that Curcumin, the
major antioxidant-polyphenol in Turmeric, appears to prevent the
accumulation of amyloid plaques; a core pathological occurrence in the
brains of Alzheimer’s diseased patients. The plaques are
toxic proteins that interfere with the electrical signals between brain
cells.
In animal trials, high doses of
Curcumin not only prevented the plaques from forming but also dissolved
existing plaques. “You can modify a mouse so that at about 12
months its brain is riddled with plaques,” Dr. Doraiswamy
told United Kingdom’s Doncaster Free Press. “If you
feed it a Curcumin-rich diet it dissolves these plaques. The same diet
prevented younger mice from forming new plaques in the first place.
“Studies looking at populations show that people who eat a
curry meal two or three times a week seem to have a lower risk for
dementia.” The research studies are testing higher doses to
see if they can maximize the effect. It would be equivalent of going on
a curry spree.”