A scientist's view of turmeric or curcumin's health benefits, with none of the marketing spin.
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
Curcumin reverses Parkinson's in Fruit Flies
OK, so maybe its not a clinical trial. But fruit flies have many genes conserved from humans, so its some rationale for research in mammals.
Curcumin, from turmeric spice, appears to block alpha-synuclein aggregation in in vitro models of Parkinson's disease, and now in flies. Alpha-synuclein is believed to aggregate and choke off dopaminergic brain cells in Parkinson's patients, leading to sleep issues. Inhibition or clearance of alpha-synuclein by curcumin in the flies also lead to a reduction in sleep disturbances.
"Clinical trials of curcumin to reduce risk of Parkinson's disease are a future possibility, but for now we are using the flies to learn how curcumin works," says author James Galvin, M.D.
Reference: Seugnet L, Galvin JE, Suzuki Y, Gottschalk L, Shaw PJ. Persistent short-term memory defects following sleep deprivation in a Drosophila model of Parkinson disease. Sleep, Aug. 1, 2009
Curcumin, from turmeric spice, appears to block alpha-synuclein aggregation in in vitro models of Parkinson's disease, and now in flies. Alpha-synuclein is believed to aggregate and choke off dopaminergic brain cells in Parkinson's patients, leading to sleep issues. Inhibition or clearance of alpha-synuclein by curcumin in the flies also lead to a reduction in sleep disturbances.
"Clinical trials of curcumin to reduce risk of Parkinson's disease are a future possibility, but for now we are using the flies to learn how curcumin works," says author James Galvin, M.D.
Reference: Seugnet L, Galvin JE, Suzuki Y, Gottschalk L, Shaw PJ. Persistent short-term memory defects following sleep deprivation in a Drosophila model of Parkinson disease. Sleep, Aug. 1, 2009