Nice Spice
I have a friend who lived for a few months on East 7th Street in Manhattan. One of the things he liked most about living there was the close proximity of a dozen or so Indian restaurants located on his block. Any time he liked, he was only two minutes away from a wonderful Indian meal.
Just one problem: The constant aroma of Indian spices became so overpowering that he finally had to move out. He knew he’d had enough when a freshly laundered shirt had a faint smell of curry.
As it turns out, if my friend had stayed put on 7th street and continued to eat frequent Indian meals, he might have helped make his body more resistant to inflammation, free radical damage and perhaps even Alzheimer’s disease.
Plaque buster
Curcumin is a yellow pigment in the root of turmeric, an herb in the ginger family. Curry gets its distinct color and flavor from curcumin, which was used by Indian Ayurvedic healers for thousands of years to treat a variety of ailments, including indigestion, jaundice, arthritis, and urinary tract disorders.
In recent years, studies have shown that curcumin’s antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties may be powerful enough to break up the amyloid plaques in the brain that contribute to Alzheimer’s disease (AD). The rate of Alzheimer’s in India (where curcumin is widely consumed) is among the lowest in the world.
The most recent research to examine the effects of curcumin on AD comes from researchers at the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA). In this study, the UCLA team injected curcumin into aging mice with advanced amyloid accumulation in the brain. As reported last month in the Journal of Biological Chemistry, the researchers observed that curcumin was able to cross the blood-brain barrier and bind to beta amyloid. This binding effectively blocked amyloid plaque aggregation.
In response to the success of this study, the UCLA Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center has already started planning a clinical trial with human subjects to study curcumin as both a preventive and a treatment for Alzheimer’s disease. Recruitment for this trial is currently underway, and you can find information on how to participate at this web site:
npistat.com/adrc/treatment.asp.
Bonus benefits
Curcumin supplements can be found through Internet sources and at many health food stores. But as with any supplement, you should consult with your doctor or a healthcare professional before taking curcumin. Indigestion is one of the conditions that curcumin is used to address, but large doses may cause ulcers. Curcumin has also been shown to lower cholesterol by prompting the liver to discharge bile, but this can be a problem for anyone with an obstruction of the biliary tract.
If you do decide to take a curcumin supplement (or sharply step up your intake of curry dishes), you may enjoy other health benefits that have been linked to curcumin consumption, including the prevention of atherosclerosis, multiple sclerosis and even cancer.
In the e-Alert “Missing the Forest” (7/23/03), I told you about a curcumin commentary written by noted cancer researcher, Ralph W. Moss, Ph.D. In that article, Dr. Moss discussed angiogenesis, the process by which cancer cells thrive and multiply by prompting the body to create new blood vessels. Research has shown that curcumin inhibits this process.
Dr. Moss noted that in Sri Lanka (where daily curcumin intake is high) the cancer mortality rate per 100,000 is 26.1 for females and 29.3 for males. The comparison of these numbers to America is unsettling: cancer mortality per 100,000 in the U.S. is 138.6 for women and an astounding 206 for men. He adds that this difference is probably not due to genetic or hereditary factors, for two reasons: 1) the population of Sri Lanka has a wide diversity of ethnic backgrounds, and 2) the cancer rates of emigrants from Sri Lanka to North America and Europe rise considerably within just a generation or two.
More research is needed before we can say conclusively that curcumin is a cancer fighter or an Alzheimer’s preventive. But research is now underway and we’ll be eagerly watching for the results.
Meanwhile, if you’re looking for an exotic (and healthy) meal in Manhattan, keep East 7th Street in mind.
and another thing
Here’s a chilling quote I found in USA Today: “Lung cancer causes more deaths among women than breast, uterine and ovarian cancers combined.”
That’s an excerpt from an interview with Jyoti Patel, M.D., who is a specialist in women’s lung cancer. Dr. Patel says the problem is compounded by the fact that most doctors still believe that lung cancer is a disease diagnosed mostly in older men who are smokers. As a result, not enough attention is paid to possible warning signs of the disease in women.
The group at highest risk for lung cancer is women who smoke. But former smokers may be more vulnerable than they imagine. According to Dr. Patel, lung cancer risk remains high for 20 years after a smoker kicks the habit. And even after two decades, lung cancer risk is only cut by half.
But abstaining from smoking doesn’t mean your risk is zero. And among women who have never smoked, the risk of developing lung cancer is still higher than that of non-smoking men.
Dr. Patel suggests that all women should be on the lookout for these warning signs of lung cancer:
- A cough that changes character (such as severity or frequency)
- Awakened at night by coughing
- Shortness of breath
- Blood in sputum
Women take heed: This is a dangerous cancer that shouldn’t be dismissed as a man’s disease or a smoker’s disease.
To Your Good Health,
Jenny Thompson
Health Sciences Institute
Sources:
“Curcumin Inhibits Formation of Amyloid Oligomers and Fibrils and Binds Plaques and Reduces Amyloid in Vivo” Journal of Biological Chemistry, published online ahead of print 12/7/04, jbc.org
“Curcumin Under Human Trials for Alzheimer’s Prevention” NutraIngredients.com, 1/4/05, nutraingredients.com
“Lung Cancer: A Woman’s Disease” Janice Billingsley, HealthDay, 1/14/05, usatoday.com
