A study by the University of California at Los Angeles' Venterans Affairs Geriatric Research, Education and Clinical Center shows that curcumin, the yellow pigment in curry spice, has promise for prevention AND treatment of Alzheimer's disease. Using mice as subjects, researchers say their data suggests that Curcumin 'inhibits the accumulation of destructive beta amyloids in the brains of Alzheimer's patients and also breaks up existing plaques.' The results were so compelling that UCLA's Alzheimer's Disease Research Center, or (ADRC) has immediately begun human clinical trials to validate the study's results.
Professor of medicine and neurology at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Gregory Cole, was a principal investigator in the study. He said, 'The prospect of finding a safe and effective new approach to both prevention and treatment of Alzheimer's disease is tremendously exciting...'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 said. 'Recent successful studies in animal models support a growing interest in its possible use for diseases of aging 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.'
A copy of the full paper can be found on the Journal of Biological Chemistry Web site at http://www.jbc.org/cgi/content/abstract/M404751200v1?maxtoshow=&HITS=10&hits=10&RESULTFORMAT=&fulltext=curcumin&searchid=1103563055202_5944&stored_search=&FIRSTINDEX=0.
