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RE: Preventing Cognitive Decline - A Case For Curcumin
The articles you cited are rife with poorly executed experiments. The literature has shown no reproducible beneficial effect for Curcumin on ANY disease.
http://pubs.acs.org/doi/pdf/10.1021/acs.jmedchem.6b00975
The compound is a PAINS. There is no validity to beneficial effecacy at all.
I took a look at the article you posted in the comments, which I greatly appreciate and have upvoted.
The bulk of my research on that article was done years ago when the information was personally relevant to me.. However, I did take a cursory look at whats current before writing my article and to get some additional information.
I wish now that I would have dug deeper instead of assuming things had remained ~same. Curcumin being a PAINS is obviously very significant and must be taken into account (something I didn’t know/do), but I don’t think that paper shows curcumin to be a falsehood.
For one, it seems to almost entirely focus on one specific curcuminoid, (1E,6E)-1,7-bis(4-hydroxy-3-methox- yphenyl)-1,6-heptadiene-3,5-dione (compound 1), which is isolated from a curcumin extract. This removes the potential for crucial intermolecular/synergistic effects that may be present when consuming a range of curcuminoids or turmeric. This is especially significant in clinical trials where compound 1 alone and even curcuminoids alone will not reach the brain in a significant concentration.
Second, trouble with assays does not discredit found behavioral effects like the recovered cognitive loss found in the study I cited.
Third, clinical studies have had conflicting results, but it seems (though I still haven’t done enough research) that this could be attributable to the form and route of curcumin intake and the corresponding bioavailability in the brain…
I’ve only explored a couple of the sources in the paper you posted, but I was particularly interested in the inhibition of Aβ plaque formation. In source 135 they use TEM to show that compound 1 in fact doesn’t inhibit Aβ fibril formation. (It may be significant that this was done in PBS or water and not physiological conditions.)
They did however find that cellular damage caused by Aβ fibril was mitigated by curcumin. I think this goes to show that just because something is hard to quantify immunohistochemically or with an in vitro biological assay, that doesn’t mean something significant isn’t going on..
I’m not claiming that I’m definitively right here, but I don’t think it can be said that “curcumin is a falsehood.” At this point, I'm still more inclined to think - based on the behavioral studies I have seen - that consuming curcumin in the proper form will have neuroprotective effects. However, further research is certainly needed!
I would like nothing more then for something like Curcumin to live up to the potential that the initial reports detailed. However the literature indicates a need for skepticism with this one IMO.
You're definitely right. Skepticism should certainly still be retained. Often times people are searching for answers before the scientific process is able to verify anything definitively. For me at least, as my family has a history of Alzheimer's, the current findings are encouraging enough for me to add turmeric to my daily diet. It may certainly turn out to have been a waste, but it's at least not detrimental - just a waste of time/money.
A doctor once said that mistakes should be made in order to improve. Skepticism is the way to push for answers and the more we learn the more we improve and hopefully prove it to be worthwhile.
Mother nature provides everything the body needs. Skepticism is definitely important, but to be skeptical of an ancient and widely used root/spice, in favor of a compartmentalized medical paper makes me skeptical of You.
No it does not. Its why people that eat healthy diets still get cancer, and heart disease, and develop other illnesses. Biology is complicated, and statements like the one you made above are just shortsighted.
Doesn't bother me one bit. I don't need your approval.