Curcumin improves memory and mood, new study says

UCLA ^ | Leigh Hopper

[BenLurkin]

  “Exactly how curcumin exerts its effects is not certain, but it may be due to its ability to reduce brain inflammation, which has been linked to both Alzheimer’s disease and major depression,” said Dr. Gary Small, director of geriatric psychiatry at UCLA’s Longevity Center and of the geriatric psychiatry division at the Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior at UCLA, and the study’s first author.

The double-blind, placebo-controlled study involved 40 adults between the ages of 50 and 90 years who had mild memory complaints. Participants were randomly assigned to receive either a placebo or 90 milligrams of curcumin twice daily for 18 months.   All 40 subjects received standardized cognitive assessments at the start of the study and at six-month intervals, and monitoring of curcumin levels in their blood at the start of the study and after 18 months. Thirty of the volunteers underwent positron emission tomography, or PET scans, to determine the levels of amyloid and tau in their brains at the start of the study and after 18 months.

  The people who took curcumin experienced significant improvements in their memory and attention abilities, while the subjects who received placebo did not, Small said. In memory tests, the people taking curcumin improved by 28 percent over the 18 months. Those taking curcumin also had mild improvements in mood, and their brain PET scans showed significantly less amyloid and tau signals in the amygdala and hypothalamus than those who took placebos.

The amygdala and hypothalamus are regions of the brain that control several memory and emotional functions. Four people taking curcumin, and two taking placebos, experienced mild side effects such as abdominal pain and nausea.

[anton]

Quality of life improvements after a certain age are pointless. It hardly matters if you understand the plot or “Days of our Lives” if you are in a wheelchair with a colostomy bag on the arm and an oxygen tank next to you.

[miniTAX]

40 subjects is a ridiculously small sample, especially when it’s non homonegenous (ages spread from 50 to 90!). Worse, it means only 20 with curcumin + 20 with placebo. And the result, 28% improvement in ill defined metrics, is vanishingly small.
I call it junk science, typical of modern epidemiology’s statistics twisting.

[aquila48]

Bookmark

[neverevergiveup]

I tend to agree with you, but would like to read the study. The before and after PET data sounds interesting.

[BlueLancer]

Unfortunately, there are some of us who experience severe reactions to tumeric/curcumin in the doses large enough to be effective. I started taking it a few weeks back and, within days, experienced severe diarrhea, stomach cramps, nausea, and blinding headaches. When I stopped taking it, those symptoms went away over the next 48 hours.

I've never had any problems with eating tumeric in my foods, especially curries, but, man, those straight doses were killing me ...

[robroys woman]

When it comes to death, we are all kicking the can down the road.

[robroys woman]

This sort of stuff matters to me and my wife. We’re both 64, very healthy, and have no Health Care insurance.

[libh8er]

Tell that to her

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-5230201/Pensioner-used-turmeric-fight-blood-cancer.html

[LiveFreeOrDie2001]

Take the Tumeric/Circumin WITH Black Pepper.

Pepper increases absorption by 2000%.

It ABSOLUTELY took away inflammation in my body.
I went off it twice & pain came back twice.
Went back on it twice & pain went away twice.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01NBA8DZF/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&th=1

BOOM.

[LiveFreeOrDie2001]

See my post #29. :-)

[trebb]

Walmart usually has it with the rest of the vitamins and supplements. My wife’s dermatologist says it might also help deter some cancers. Of course it all comes with the disclaimer that the FDA hasn’t verified any of the possible good effects...

[captain_dave]

... I forgot about that

[MNDude]

Thanks, as a man pushing 90 who has been suffering with sickle cell Amenia for many years, this sounds very interesting!

[trebb]

Thank you for making me feel young - God Bless and hope you find any little thing that is helpful.

[Adder]

So: is there less alzheimers/dementia/memory issues in countries with populations that use lots of tumeric?
seems that research should be an easy comparative study...

I do take it daily because “ya nevah know” and its a very inexpensive “insurance” supplement.

[thinden]

BBB

[Neoliberalnot]

Curcumin clearly has anti inflammatory properties. The question is, why is it different that OTC anti-inflammatory drugs. What makes curcumin better?

[Neoliberalnot]

Do you have a reference for the fluoride claim? Billions of people, maybe all demrats, suffer from foggy thinking.

[Neoliberalnot]

Best prices in Walmart in the supplements section. There are several selections. You want the brand with the most active ingredient for the price.

[Neoliberalnot]

The BBB excludes molecules based on specific characteristics such as charge, lipophilicity, specific carriers, etc. Reducing particle size isn’t the issue.