Turmeric and Alzheimer’s research

http://alzheimer.neurology.ucla.edu/Curcumin.html

I was watching someone plug his book “Brain Fog” today and in addition to the usual walk a mile a day, drink coffee and wine and eat blueberries, he mentioned turmeric and black pepper.  So I looked that up.  Seems to be a lot of pre-prepared items you can buy.

Curcumin (Turmeric), an ancient Indian herb used in curry powder, has been extensively studied in modern medicine and Indian systems of medicine for the treatment of various medical conditions, including cystic fibrosis, haemorrhoids, gastric ulcer, colon cancer, breast cancer, atherosclerosis, liver diseases and arthritis. It has been used in various types of treatments for dementia and traumatic brain injury. Curcumin also has a potential role in the prevention and treatment of AD. Curcumin as an antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and lipophilic action improves the cognitive functions in patients with AD. A growing body of evidence indicates that oxidative stress, free radicals, beta amyloid, cerebral deregulation caused by bio-metal toxicity and abnormal inflammatory reactions contribute to the key event in Alzheimer's disease pathology. Due to various effects of curcumin, such as decreased Beta-amyloid plaques, delayed degradation of neurons, metal-chelation, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant and decreased microglia formation, the overall memory in patients with AD has improved. . .

Worldwide, there are over 1000 published animal and human studies, both in vivo and in vitro in which the effects of curcumin on various diseases have been examined. Studies include epidemiological, basic and clinical research on AD. . . .

Epidemiological studies have shown that prevalence of AD is 4.4 lower amongst Indian Asians as compared to people of western origin. Ann Indian Acad Neurol. 2008 Jan-Mar; 11(1): 13–19.