Can Curcumin Treat Alzheimer's and Act as an Anti Aging Supplement? By Valerie Rosenbaum At Isnare.com Ezine Articles

Studies concerning curcumin and Alzheimers are still ongoing. That is most of the clinical trials, made up of people that currently have the condition, are still ongoing. One was recently completed, but in order to access the results of the trial, you need to subscribe to the Journal of Clinical Psychopharmacology.

It was a pilot study. The results from pilot studies typically make a final recommendation of whether or not more detailed trials should be conducted. In other words, regardless of the results, there would still be more studies, before a drug was developed or released.

Right now, curcumin from turmeric is classified as a dietary supplement, in the US. Dietary supplements can not be recommended for treating or curing a disease, unless they are also drugs. If that is the case, there would be a pharmaceutical grade of the nutrient or supplement; a standardized formula that could be controlled and regulated.

For example, resveratrol is an antioxidant derived from red grapes. It is currently available in supplement form, but is also being studied for the treatment of type II diabetes. When reports concerning these studies are published, reporters call it a “new drug”. When the clinical trials are completed, there will still be resveratrol supplements on the market, but there will also be a prescription formula for those that suffer from type II diabetes.

You might wonder why all of this is necessary. Either a compound works for a specific purpose, or it does not. That’s not exactly true.

The nutrient content of plants varies. When you see nutrition facts published for a fruit or vegetable that is the “average” content. The resveratrol content of red grapes varies greatly, depending on the area in which it grows and many other factors. The same is true of the curcumin content in turmeric.

When a doctor is prescribing something to treat a disease, he must know the “actual” not the “average” content. If the plant extract contained more than the average amount, it could cause health problems. If it contained less, it would be ineffective.

While there are many good health supplements on the market, with reliable standardized formulations, there are just as many that are not so good. That’s why people are often disappointed in the supplements they have purchased. I know of one supplement that was developed by a chemist, nutritionist and doctor of naturopathic medicine. It is the supplement that I take myself. It contains both curcumin and resveratrol, along with green tea catechins. All of which are believed to be beneficial for preventing and possibly treating Alzheimer’s disease.

If someone you love suffers from this degenerative disease, it can take a toll on your own health. You may be grasping at any straw that could possibly be beneficial. You may worry about your own risk of developing the disease. You might want to join a support group and take the time to care for yourself, so that you can care for the one that you love. Remember that the curcumin and Alzheimers research is in the early stages. There is no reason not to use nutritional support as part of a complete treatment plan, but don’t rely too heavily on any single nutrient. Investigate all of your options.

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