Curcumin
Physician Formulas

Curcumin is one of the major antioxidants found in the spice
turmeric. The roots of the turmeric plant are used as an herb in Asian cooking such as curries. Curcumin
is a major component of Turmeric (Curcuma longa) and extensive
scientific research on curcumin and turmeric has demonstrated their potent antioxidant
properties. Through their antioxidant mechanisms, curcumin and turmeric support
colon health, exert neuroprotective activity and help maintain a healthy
cardiovascular system.
Click here to buy Curcumin discount, Joint Power Rx, or Eyesight Rx
High Quality products formulated by a
medical doctor


Mind Power Rx for better
mental focus, concentration, and mood; Diet Rx which helps you eat less. It really does curb appetite; Good Night
Rx for better sleep; Eyesight
Rx for better vision, often within days; MultiVit
Rx a daily comprehensive
multivitamin for more energy and vitality; Joint Power Rx
for healthy joints; Prostate Power Rx
for a healthy prostate gland; and Passion Rx
for sexual enhancement, better libido, and improved performance and stamina in
men and women.
Potential benefits of curcumin
Growing research over the last half century has
revealed that curcumin has many important functions. It binds to a variety of
proteins and inhibits the activity of various kinases. By influencing the
activation of various transcription factors, curcumin regulates the expression
of inflammatory enzymes, cytokines, adhesion molecules, and cell survival
proteins. Curcumin also downregulates cyclin D1, cyclin E and MDM2; and
upregulates p21, p27, and p53.
Curcumin has been shown to exhibit antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antiviral,
antibacterial, antifungal, and anticancer activities and thus has a potential
against various malignant diseases, diabetes, allergies, arthritis, Alzheimer's
disease, and other chronic illnesses. For more
curcumin turmeric information.
Curcumin and Alzheimer's disease
Curcumin may be able to break up the "plaques" that mark the brains
of Alzheimer's disease patients.
Scientists found that curcumin was able to reduce deposits of beta-amyloid proteins in the
brains of elderly lab mice that ate curcumin as part of their diets.
Furthermore, when the researchers added low doses of curcumin to human
beta-amyloid proteins in a test tube, the compound kept the proteins from
aggregating and blocked the formation of the amyloid fibers that make up
Alzheimer's plaques.
Accumulation of beta-amyloid proteins in the brain is one of the hallmarks
of Alzheimer's disease that leads to damage to nerve cells and the
resulting loss in memory and cognitive function. Long used as part of traditional Indian medicine, curcumin is
known to have some anti-cancer properties, and animal
research suggests it might serve as a treatment for
multiple sclerosis and cystic fibrosis.
Interest in curcumin as an Alzheimer's therapy grew after studies found
low rates of the disease among elderly adults in India, where curry spice
is a dietary staple. Curcumin is a powerful antioxidant and has
anti-inflammatory properties. And since oxidative damage and inflammation
mark a number of diseases of aging - such as arthritis and the buildup of
plaques in the heart's arteries - curcumin eventually may
prove to be useful for a range of age-related conditions.
Curcumin and Cancer
Curcumin may help fight cancer, including prostate cancer. Researchers have found in the lab that curcumin can
enhance the cancer-fighting power of treatment with TRAIL, a naturally occurring molecule
that helps kill cancer cells. TRAIL stands for tumor necrosis factor-related
apoptosis-inducing ligand. In an experiment with human prostate cancer cells in a
laboratory dish, the combination treatment killed off two to three times more cells than
either treatment alone.
Curcumin exerts multiple different suppressive
effects on human breast carcinoma cells in vitro.
In a test tube study, curcumin was found to
have anticancer effects on human Burkitt's lymphoma.
Curcumin and diabetes,
pancreatic cells
In animal studies, curcumin protects islets against streptozotocin induced
oxidative stress by scavenging free radicals. Pprophylactic use of
curcumin may rescue islets from damage without affecting the normal
function of these cellular structures.
Curcumin benefit for
Heart conditions
In a rodent study, curcumin was
found to protect rat myocardium against ischemic insult and the protective
effect could be attributed to its antioxidant properties.
Curcumin and
Multiple Sclerosis
Curcumin may block
the progression of multiple sclerosis.
Familial adenomatous polyposis
Curcumin and quercetin may be helpful in
adenomas in familial adenomatous
polyposis.
Combination treatment with curcumin and quercetin of adenomas in familial
adenomatous polyposis.
Clin Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2006 Aug;4(8):1035-8.
Five
familial adenomatous polyposis
patients with prior colectomy (4 with
retained rectum and 1 with an ileal anal pouch) received curcumin 480 mg
and quercetin 20 mg orally 3 times a day. The number and size of polyps
were assessed at baseline and after therapy. All 5 patients had a decreased polyp number and size from
baseline after a mean of 6 months of treatment with curcumin and quercetin.
Minimal adverse
side effects and no laboratory abnormalities were noted. The combination of curcumin and quercetin appears to reduce
the number and size of ileal and rectal adenomas in patients with
familial adenomatous polyposis
without appreciable toxicity.
Curcumin may be helpful in
ulcerative colitis
Curcumin maintenance therapy for
ulcerative
colitis: randomized, multicenter, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial.
Clin Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2006 Dec;4(12):1502-6.
Eighty-nine patients with quiescent ulcerative colitis were recruited for
this randomized, double-blind, multicenter trial of curcumin in the
prevention of relapse. Forty-five patients received curcumin, 1g after
breakfast and 1g after the evening meal, plus sulfasalazine (SZ) or
mesalamine, and 44 patients received placebo plus SZ or mesalamine for 6
months. Of 43 patients who received curcumin, 2 relapsed during 6 months
of therapy (4%), whereas 8 of 39 patients (20%) in the placebo group
relapsed. Recurrence rates evaluated on the basis of intention to treat
showed significant difference between curcumin and placebo. Conclusions: Curcumin seems to be a
promising and safe medication for maintaining remission in patients with
quiescent ulcerative colitis.
Curcumin for inflammatory
bowel disease
Curcumin therapy in inflammatory bowel disease: a pilot study.
Dig Dis Sci. 2005 Nov;50(11):2191-3. Holt PR, Katz S, Kirshoff R. St.
Luke's Roosevelt Hospital Center, Columbia University and Strang Cancer
Center Research Laboratory, New York, New York, USA.
Curcumin, a natural compound used as a food additive, has been shown to
have anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties in cell culture and
animal studies. A pure curcumin preparation was administered in an open
label study to five patients with ulcerative proctitis and five with
Crohn's disease. All proctitis patients improved, with reductions in
concomitant medications in four, and four of five Crohn's disease patients
had lowered CDAI scores and sedimentation rates. This encouraging pilot
study suggests the need for double-blind placebo-controlled follow-up
studies.
Curcumin and
Alzheimer's
disease
Curcumin has compounds
that may be helpful in Alzheimer's disease. Curcumin
helps prevent the formation of
beta-amyloids which are neural fibrils in the brain that cause Alzheimer's.
Curcumin may be able to break up the "plaques" that mark the brains
of Alzheimer's disease patients.
Scientists found that curcumin was able to reduce deposits of beta-amyloid proteins in the
brains of elderly lab mice that ate curcumin as part of their diets.
Furthermore, when the researchers added low doses of curcumin to human
beta-amyloid proteins in a test tube, the compound kept the proteins from
aggregating and blocked the formation of the amyloid fibers that make up
Alzheimer's plaques.
Accumulation of beta-amyloid proteins in the brain is one of the hallmarks
of Alzheimer's disease that leads to damage to nerve cells and the
resulting loss in memory and cognitive function. Long used as part of traditional Indian medicine, curcumin is
known to have some anti-cancer properties, and animal
research suggests it might serve as a treatment for
multiple sclerosis and cystic fibrosis.
Interest in curcumin as an Alzheimer's therapy grew after studies found
low rates of the disease among elderly adults in India, where curry spice
is a dietary staple. Curcumin is a powerful antioxidant and has
anti-inflammatory properties. And since oxidative damage and inflammation
mark a number of diseases of aging - such as arthritis and the buildup of
plaques in the heart's arteries - curcumin eventually may
prove to be useful for a range of age-related conditions.
For those who prefer to take a capsule of curcumin
rather than cook with curry or turmeric, curcumin supplements are
available.
Curcumin and
breast cancer
Curcumin appears to stop the spread of breast cancer tumor cells
to the lungs of mice. Tests have already started in people, too, says Bharat Aggarwal of the Department of Experimental Therapeutics at the
University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, who led the
study. "What's exciting about this agent is that it seems to have both
chemopreventive and therapeutic properties. Earlier research showed that curcumin, an antioxidant, can help prevent
tumors from forming in the laboratory. For their study, Aggarwal and
colleagues injected mice with human breast cancer cells -- a batch of
cells grown from a patient whose cancer had spread to the lungs. The
resulting tumors were allowed to grow, and then surgically removed, to
simulate a mastectomy. Then the mice either got no
additional treatment; curcumin alone; the cancer drug paclitaxel (sold under the brand name Taxol); or curcumin plus Taxol.
Only half the mice in
the curcumin -only group and 22 percent of those in the curcumin plus
Taxol group had evidence of breast cancer that had spread to the lungs.
But 75 percent of animals that got Taxol alone and 95 percent of those
that got no treatment developed lung tumors. IN other words, the addition
of curcumin lowered the rate of cancer spread. Earlier studies suggest that
people who eat diets rich in turmeric have lower rates of breast cancer,
prostate cancer, lung cancer and colon cancer.
Curcumin studies
Curcumin modulates free radical quenching
in myocardial ischaemia in rats.
Manikandan P. Central Leather Research Institute, Adyar, Chennai 600020, India.
Int J Biochem Cell Biol. 2004 Oct;36(10):1977-90.
This study was designed to investigate the protective effect of curcumin
against isoprenaline induced myocardial ischaemia in rat myocardium. The effect
of single oral dose of curcumin (15mgkg(-1)), administered 30min before and/or
after the onset of ischaemia, was investigated by assessing oxidative stress
related biochemical parameters in rat myocardium. Curcumin pre and
post-treatment (PPT) was shown to decrease the levels of xanthine oxidase,
superoxide anion, lipid peroxides and myeloperoxidase while the levels of
superoxide dismutase, catalase, glutathione peroxidase,
glutathione-S-transferase activities were significantly increased after curcumin PPT. Histopathological and transmission electron microscopical studies
also confirmed the severe myocardial damage occurring as a consequence of
isoprenaline induced ischaemia and they also showed the significant improvement
effected by curcumin PPT. These findings provided evidence that curcumin was
found to protect rat myocardium against ischaemic insult and the protective
effect could be attributed to its antioxidant properties as well as its
inhibitory effects on xanthine dehydrogenase - xanthine oxidase conversion
and resultant superoxide anion production.
Curcumin questions
Q. My CT scan report show about 2 cms growth on the tail of pancreas. It is not
known whether it is benign or malignant. Will your product Curcuma containing
curcumin alkaloid, be of any use in treating this condition. Do you have any
other natural product for treatment without surgery. I will be shortly
consulting my Gastroenterologist who is an expert on pancreatic diseases. I
would like to start treatment for both benign and malignant neoplasms of
pancreas. I have no pain whatsoever.
A. We cannot make any predictions on the treatment of pancreatic
cancer with curcumin or any other natural supplement.
Q. I have had severe IBS (or colitis) for 16 years. I
wanted to tell you, that I have been on curcumin for 6 months, (2x day) with
bioprene, and am finally getting SOME results. I know that a long illness cannot
necessarily just change overnight, and am grateful to your website to inspire me
to keep working with curcumin. I tried three a day, but cannot go that high yet.
I have more energy, sleep a bit better, and am starting to gain weight. I can
now exercise. I still can't eat dairy, sugar, alcohol, or too much of grains,
but I am not burping as much all day long now, and am burping less at night. I
don't sleep as much during the day. Best of all, my digestive system is not
working as poorly. It has gone from a level 2 to about a 4 in a 1-10 range. Have
there ever been any "long term" studies on bad digestion with curcumin?
Everything looks so short term.
A. Thus far the studies have not been long term but we hope the
benefits of curcumin continue for you. What happens when you take more than
three a day?
Q. I can't take 3 pills a day, as I get diarrhea,
and spend a lot of time in the bathroom. I use Doctor's Best brand. I think it
has been helping with my fibromyalgia also. Now it just hurts in the morning
usually. Sometimes, it was all day, usually depending on what I ate. I have also
noticed the pain in my right hand has gone down when I type. Usually, this would
get pretty bad, to where I would wonder if I could type in the future. Now I am
not concerned about my future working (accounting work).
Q. My wife has been diagnosed with early on-set
Alzheimer's disease. She is currently taking Aricept, Namenda and Effexor twice
a day as prescribed by her neurologist. I am considering purchasing curcumin
because of some of the positive effects that I have read about. Should my wife
refrain from taking her prescription medications while taking curcumin or can
she take both?
A. This is not a decision that we can make. The decision to use
curcumin or to not take prescription medications rests on her doctor.
back to index yohimbe bark
curcumin turmeric benefits curcumin turmeric for
arthritis