Curcumin’s ability to fight Alzheimer’s

http://news.vanderbilt.edu/2015/01/curcumin%E2%80%99s-ability-to-fight-alzheimer-studied/

One of the most promising new treatments for Alzheimer’s disease may already be in your kitchen. Curcumin, a natural product found in the spice turmeric, has been used by many Asian cultures for centuries, and a new study indicates a close chemical analog of curcumin has properties that may make it useful as a treatment for the brain disease.

“Curcumin has demonstrated ability to enter the brain, bind and destroy the beta-amyloid plaques present in Alzheimer’s with reduced toxicity,” said Wellington Pham, Ph.D., assistant professor of Radiology and Radiological Sciences and Biomedical Engineering at Vanderbilt and senior author of the study, published recently in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease.

Accumulation and aggregation of protein fragments, known as beta-amyloid, drives the irreversible loss of neurons in Alzheimer’s disease.

Developing small molecules to reduce this accumulation or promote its demolition is crucial, but the ability of these small molecules to cross the blood-brain barrier has been a restricting factor for drug delivery into the brain.

Pham and colleagues at Shiga University of Medical Science in Otsu, Japan, developed a new strategy to deliver a molecule similar to curcumin more effectively to the brain.

“One of the difficulties in the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease is how to deliver drugs across the blood brain barrier,” he said. “Our body has designed this barrier to protect the brain from any toxic molecules that can cross into the brain and harm neurons.

“But it is also a natural barrier for molecules designed for disease-modifying therapy,” Pham said.

To work around the problems of giving the drug intravenously, the researchers decided to develop an atomizer to generate a curcumin aerosol. The Japanese researchers developed a molecule similar to curcumin, FMeC1, which was the one actually used in this study.

“The advantage of the FMeC1 is that it is a perfluoro compound, which can be tracked by the biodistribution in the brain noninvasively using magnetic resonance imaging. Curcumin is a very simple chemical structure, so it is not expensive to generate the analog,” Pham said.

“In this way the drug can be breathed in and delivered to the brain,” he said, noting that nebulizers are out in the market already, and are relatively inexpensive.

I'm all for anything that may help in the fight with Alzheimer's, so read this with interest.....thank you.

Kris Gunnars at Authority Nutrition has also written an excellent article about the 10 proven health benefits of turmeric and curcumin. Use this link here if you want to learn more.

http://authoritynutrition.com/top-10-evidence-based-health-benefits-of-turmeric/

All the best Jan

Curcumin is found in the popular spice turmeric

" Eating Turmeric In Curry Could Stave Off Dementia, Study Suggests
Another reason to love chicken tikka masala.

Eating a portion of curry once a week may reduce your risk of developing dementia, new research suggests.

The study, conducted by scientists at Edith Cowan University in Australia, looked at the impact the chemical curcumin has on the brain.

Curcumin is found in the popular spice turmeric, that is used in many Indian curry dishes.

The researchers found curcumin has the potential to improve memory function for adults by blocking proteins that destroy neurones in the brain.


During the study, a group of 96 participants aged between 40 and 90 were split into two groups.

The first group were given a daily placebo pill while the second were prescribed a pill containing 1,500mg of curcumin.

Just six months into the 12-month study, the participants receiving the placebo pill displayed evidence of cognitive decline when completing verbal and memory tests.

In contrast, the group who’d been taking the curcumin-based supplement did not appear to show any change in brain function.

Commenting on the study, Laura Phipps, from Alzheimer’s Research UK, said more research is needed before we can accurately say the chemical may help in fighting dementia.

“While there has been some early-stage research into the effects of curcumin on brain health, there is currently no conclusive evidence it could prevent or treat dementia in people,” she told The Telegraph.

“Some studies have produced limited evidence that very high doses of curcumin – much higher than might be normally found in foods like curry – could have some impact on memory and thinking skills, but large-scale clinical trials will be required before researchers can fully assess any potential benefits.”

She added that the best current evidence suggests that not smoking, staying mentally and physically active, eating a balanced diet and keeping blood pressure and cholesterol in check can all help maintain a healthy brain. "

Story taken from here
http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/turmeric-in-curry-reduces-dementia_uk_5744311ce4b00006e9af216b?icid=maing-grid7%7Cuk%7Cdl14%7Csec1_lnk3%26pLid%3D462577

Food for thought - perhaps in more ways than one ?

All the best Jan

I think hyperglycemia and especially hyperinsulinemia are major factors in Alzheimers, so the diet should be balanced away from excess carbs, especially wheat, and Omega 6 oils, and towards saturated and Omega 3 fats.

Curcumin is absorbed better in the presence of piperine, so I grind some black pepper onto my turmeric-containing curries.

I'll let you know if this works, if I remember.

Coincidence or what? I had a prawn curry last night, slightly different as I used king prawns, cashews and multicoloured peppers, garlic and cumin, coriander, cayenne and cardamom with the turmeric. A bit of an unbalanced diet, too many C's. I forgot the ginger root so now I'll have to have another one.

I think your food must taste great ... you do seem to like your spices and herbs.
I don't always use fresh - but keep a selection of dried available. Use of turmeric and (I love) coriander is popular!

Years ago my parents kitchen cupboard just contained salt and pepper, although we did have some lovely mint growing in the garden.

Nowadays there is a whole host of good spices / herbs available, and even those who may not have a large garden do grow herbs in a pot on the windowsill.

All the best Jan

I alternate between simple fare and more complex things. Yes most of my herbs and spices are dried but I have a rosemary tree in the garden (it used to be a bush) and a load of mint and marjoram, both quite invasive but they are quite pretty and feed the bees and other insects. Also some lemon balm (ditto) and borage. I suppose I could eat the ground elder but I generally pull up the leaves as soon as I spot them.

Apart from the mint sauce for the lamb, my father called all these things "foreign muck" and wouldn't have them in the house.