Turmeric, which is called the spice of life in ancient Indian lore, might help fight Alzheimer’s, according to initial stages of a study.
The spice is an integral ingredient in curry, and tests on laboratory rats have provided evidence that curry helps prevent dementia. A human clinical trial is under way in California.
Murali Doraiswamy, director of the mental fitness laboratory at the Duke University Medical Center's psychiatry department, told a conference that curcumin, an element of turmeric, appears to prevent the accumulation of amyloid plaques. The plaques are toxic proteins found in the brains of Alzheimer’s victims and are a key characteristic of the disease. The plaques are thought to 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,” 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.
“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,” he said. “These studies seem to show that you need only consume what is part of the normal diet, but 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 for a week.”
Turmeric also is being studied for its possible ability to lower the incidence of cancer and arthritis.
Source: NewsMax Health
Posted: True Health Is True Wealth
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