Turmeric Produces ‘Remarkable’ Recovery in Alzheimer’s Patients

A diagnosis of Alzheimer’s, sadly, has become almost like a rite of passage in so-called developed countries. Alzheimer’s is considered the most common form of dementia, which is defined as a serious loss of cognitive function beyond what is expected from normal aging in previously unimpaired persons.

A 2006 study estimated that 26 million people throughout the world suffer from this condition, and that by 2050, the prevalence will quadruple, by which time one in 85 people worldwide will be afflicted with the disease.

Given the global extent of the problem, interest is growing in safe and effective preventive and therapeutic interventions within the conventional medical and alternative professions alike.

Try incorporating small, high-quality, culinary doses of spices like turmeric into your dietary pattern. Conventional, drug-based approaches unfortunately may amount to declaring chemical war on the problem, a mistake that may result in serious neurological harm, as evidenced by the fact that this drug class carries an alarmingly high risk of causing seizures, according to World Health Organization post-marketing surveillance statistics.

The general public is therefore growing most responsive to using time-tested, safe, natural, and otherwise more effective therapies that rely on foods, spices, and other familiar culinary ingredients.

A remarkable study was published in the journal Ayu titiled “Effects of turmeric on Alzheimer’s disease with behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia.” Researchers described three patients with Alzheimer’s disease whose behavioral symptoms “improved remarkably” as a result of consuming dosages of turmeric for 12 weeks. According to the study:

“All three patients exhibited irritability, agitation, anxiety, and apathy, two patients suffer from urinary incontinence. … They were prescribed turmeric powder capsules and started recovering from these symptoms without any adverse reaction in the clinical symptom and laboratory data.”

After only three months of treatment, both the patients’ symptoms and the burden on their caregivers were significantly decreased.

“In one case, the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) score was up five points, from 12/30 to 17/30. In the other two cases, no significant change was seen in the MMSE; however, they came to recognize their family within 1 year treatment. All cases have been taking turmeric for more than 1 year, re-exacerbation of BPSD was not seen.”

This study illustrates just how powerful a simple natural intervention using a time-tested culinary herb can be. Given that turmeric has been used medicinally and as a culinary ingredient for over 5,000 years in Indian culture, we should not be surprised at this result. Indeed, epidemiological studies of Indian populations reveal that they have a remarkably lower prevalence of Alzheimer’s disease relative to Western nations, and this is true for both rural and more “Westernized” urban areas of India.

Anti-inflammatory: Curcumin has been found to play a protective role against β-amyloid protein associated inflammation. Anti-oxidative: Curcumin may reduce damage via antioxidant properties.

Anti-cytotoxic: Curcumin appears to protect against the cell-damaging effects of β-amyloid proteins.

Anti-amyloidogenic: Turmeric contains a variety of compounds (curcumin, tetrahydrocurcumin, demethoxycurcumin and bisdemethoxycurcumin) which may strike to the root pathological cause of Alzheimer’s disease by preventing β-amyloid protein formation.

Neurorestorative: Curcuminoids appear to rescue long-term potentiation (an indication of functional memory) impaired by amyloid peptide, and may reverse physiological damage by restoring distorted neurites and disrupting existing plaques.

Metal-chelating properties: Curcumin has a higher binding affinity for iron and copper rather than zinc, which may contribute to its protective effect in Alzheimer’s disease, as iron-mediated damage may play a pathological role.

The modern kitchen pantry contains a broad range of anti-Alzheimer’s disease items, which plenty of science now confirms. Top on the list, of course, is curcumin. Others include:

Coconut Oil: This remarkable substance contains approximately 66% medium chain triglycerides by weight, and is capable of improving symptoms of cognitive decline in those suffering from dementia by increasing brain-boosing ketone bodies, and perhaps more remarkably, within only one dose, and within only two hours.

Cocoa: A 2009 study found that cocoa procyanidins may protect against lipid peroxidation associated with neuronal cell death in a manner relevant to Alzheimer’s disease. Sage: A 2003 study found that sage extract has therapeutic value in patients with mild to moderate Alzheimer’s disease.

Folic acid: While most of the positive research on this B vitamin has been performed on the semi-synthetic version, which may have unintended, adverse health effects, the ideal source for this B vitamin is foliage, i.e. green leafy vegetables, as only foods provide folate. Also, the entire B group of vitamins, especially including the homocysteine-modulating B6 and B12, may have the most value in Alzheimer’s disease prevention and treatment.

Resveratrol: this compound is mainly found in the Western diet in grapes, wine, peanuts and chocolate. There are 16 articles on our website indicating it has anti-Alzheimer’s properties.

Gingko biloba: is one of the few herbs proven to be at least as effective as the pharmaceutical drug Aricept in treating and improving symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease. Melissa offinalis: this herb, also known as Lemon Balm, has been found to have therapeutic effect in patients with mild to moderate Alzheimer’s disease.

Saffron: this herb compares favorably to the drug donepezil in the treatment of mild-to-moderate Alzheimer’s disease.

As always, the important thing to remember is that it is our diet and environmental exposures that largely determine our risk of accelerated brain aging and associated dementia. Prevention is an infinitely better strategy, especially considering many of the therapeutic items mentioned above can be used in foods as spices. Try incorporating small, high-quality culinary doses of spices like turmeric into your dietary pattern, remembering that ‘adding it to taste,’ in a way that is truly enjoyable, may be the ultimate standard for determining what a ‘healthy dose’ is for you.

Order the capsules, you will get a much stronger dose, be sure the Turmeric has Curcumin in it.

I took it for a year and didn’t notice any reduction in my OA pain. Be sure it is compatible with any meds you take.

Ginger Root capsules for nausea you can take as many as you want/need. The chews tend to be a bit to peppery hot for me.

Coconut oil is a multi use product, good moisturizer for skin apply to damp skin pat dry. It cooks at a lower temp, melts on your finger tips, DO NOT refrigerate, a solid will turn to liquid if your house gets to warm in the summer. Good for skin yeast infections, much better than Nystatin. It can bring your cholesterol down. I like grape seed oil better, a little higher cooking temp.

K2 complex will force the calcium to stay in your bones and not migrate into your arteries, it acts like a blood thinner.

K2 COMPLEX Your Arteries & Bones
http://www.newswithviews.com/Howenstine/james59.htm

Benefits of Probiotics
http://www.health.harvard.edu/fhg/updates/update0905c.shtml

Digestive Enzymes
http://whole9life.com/2012/09/digestive-enzymes-101/

Drug Muggers by Susan Cohen
http://www.drugmuggersbook.com/drugmuggersbook/index

Your Bones: How You Can Prevent Osteoporosis and Have Strong Bones for Life - Naturally Lara Pizzorno 2013

The Whole Body Approach to OP
R. Keith McCormick

B 12 http://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/VitaminB12-Consumer/

Zinc and B12 taste
http://ezinearticles.com/?Taste-Loss-From-Zinc-and-B12-Deficiencies&id=6149217

Fertility B12
http://www.livestrong.com/article/468731-male-infertility-and-the-role-of-vitamin-b-12/

B 12 Depression
http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/depression/expert-answers/vitamin-b12-and-depression/faq-20058077

B 6 http://usörebro.se/en/Treatments/Cancer/Prosstate-cancer/Vitamin-B6-increases-survival-in-prostate-cancer/

D 3 And Depression
http://www.depressionanxietydiet.com/vitamin-d-3-supplement-depression/

Chronic pain linked to vitamin D deficiency in men
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/275615.php

zinc & Copper imbalance
http://www.drkaslow.com/html/zinc-copper_imbalances.htmli

Collagen Role in Body
http://www.oif.org/site/PageServer?pagename=BoneStruct

http://www.raysahelian.com/collagen.html

K2 and your bones
http://chriskresser.com/vitamin-k2-the-missing-nutrient

http://www.betterbones.com/bonenutrition/vitamin-k/benefits.aspx

http://saveourbones.com/vitamin-k-osteoporosis/

http://info.drclarkstore.com/blog/bid/326351/How-Vitamin-K-Helps-You-Save-Your-Bones

B12
http://www.lef.org/magazine/mag2000/dec2000_report_b12_1.htm

B 6
http://lpi.oregonstate.edu/infocenter/vitamins/vitaminB6/

http://www.mayoclinic.org/drugs-supplements/vitamin-b6/background/hrb-20058788

Vitamin E
http://www.lef.org/magazine/mag2002/may2002_cover_vitamine_01.htm

Vit C is good for your bones!
http://health.yahoo.net/experts/dayinhealth/surprising-vitamin-long-life

Master Min
http://www.naturalnews.com/026768_magnesium_food_supplement.html

C http://www.naturalnews.com/032104_vitamin_C_radiation_exposure.html

Selenium
http://www.webmd.com/vitamins-supplements/ingredientmono-1003-SELENIUM.aspx?activeIngredientId=1003&activeIngredientName=SELENIUM&source=0

This is a NEW study.
Cholesterol : Dietary guidelines are wrong on saturated fats, claims cardiovascular researcher
http://www.foodnavigator.com/Science-Nutrition/Dietary-guidelines-are-wrong-on-saturated-fats-claims-cardiovascular-researcher

SHOCKING TRUTH ABOUT SATURATED FAT! Butter
http://time.com/2861540/fat-and-carbs-diet-guidelines/

Margarine
http://davidbozek.net/?tag=digestible-vs-indigestible

Here’s another study http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9756121...comparing the effects of coconut oil to butter and safflower oil. Guess what? Cholesterol synthesis is lower with coconut oil and safflower oil than with butter. Again, “coconut oil is less bad for you.”

Blood group ‘link to memory loss’
http://www.bbc.com/news/health-29142830

Dementia: Is Gluten to Blame?
http://blogs.webmd.com/webmd-guests/2014/02/dementia-is-gluten-to-blame.html?ecd=wnl_alz_100214&ctr=wnl-alz-100214_promo_1&mb=d%400CrOsHfK5O8jfkBYpd%40%40HnVev1imbCa6EsP6H5HEk%3d

The Questionable Benefits of Exchanging Saturated Fat With Polyunsaturated Fat
http://www.mayoclinicproceedings.org/article/S0025-6196%2813%2901004-5/fulltext

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