Curcumin: It spices up life, but does it heal?

[Guest guest]

Curcumin's anti-inflammatory powers are unproven

http://www.latimes.com/features/printedition/health/la-he-skeptic8-

2008sep08,0,5163777.story

By Woolston, Special to The Times

The products: Humans have long believed in an almost magical

connection between strong flavors and good health. The burn from the

hot pepper? It must be energizing the body. The pungent tang of a raw

oyster? It must be energizing a very particular part of the body. And

the zingy sweetness of an Indian curry? For centuries, people in

India have believed that the spice turmeric can ease digestive

distress and arthritis.

In recent years, scientists have taken an intense interest in

curcumin, a bright-yellow compound in turmeric that seems to fight

inflammation -- in test tubes and lab rodents, at least. If it could

fight inflammation in people too, it potentially could help ease

arthritis and some digestive troubles, along with other conditions

fueled by inflammation.

Curcumin's stock in the supplement world has been on the rise thanks

to articles that have touted the compound as a possible treatment for

Alzheimer's disease, multiple sclerosis and various cancers.

The stories beneath the headlines almost invariably warn that more

research is needed, but the marketing of curcumin is moving full

steam ahead at health-food stores, in vitamin aisles and on Internet

sites. Ageless Cures sells 60 caplets of Super Curcumin -- with at

least 950 milligrams of curcumin a tablet -- for about $20. You can

buy 60 caplets of Life Extension's Super Bio-Curcumin -- with a

little less than 400 milligrams of curcumin a caplet -- for about $12.

The claims: The Ageless Cures website claims that " curcumin has shown

to be very anti-inflammatory without any negative side effects and

many additional positive benefits. " Visitors to the site are told

that curcumin's anti-inflammatory power makes it an effective

treatment for arthritis, inflammatory bowel disease and Alzheimer's

disease.

In an online review of Super Bio-Curcumin, vitamin supplier Seacoast

Vitamins claims that " just one capsule a day with food may help

regulate inflammatory response in the body. " According to the

company's site, control of inflammation can translate into relief

from rheumatoid arthritis and other types of pain.

The bottom line: If you require hard evidence for your remedies, you

may want to keep your curcumin in the spice rack. For the most part,

the tantalizing possibilities are still unproven, says Greg Cole, a

UCLA professor-in-residence of neurology and associate director of

the university's Alzheimer Disease Center who has been studying

curcumin for several years. " It does a whole lot of things in a test

tube, " he says. " For people, the data are pretty weak. "

Test-tube studies have shown that curcumin can block inflammation,

clean up free radicals and kill cancer cells, but there's a big

roadblock between the lab and human use. According to Cole, plain

curcumin isn't well absorbed, a shortcoming that seriously limits its

potential effectiveness. (Mixing it with fat first seems to help

absorption -- good news for people who like coconut milk or oil with

their curries.) Cole suspects that the lack of absorption partly

explains why a recent UCLA trial he conducted failed to show any

benefits of curcumin for patients with Alzheimer's disease.

For now, Cole says, curcumin shows the most promise in the digestive

tract, the one place in the body that supplements are guaranteed to

reach. Preliminary trials of patients with colon cancer have found

that taking up to 3.6 grams of curcumin a day appears to slow down

the disease. A 2005 study of 10 people with inflammatory bowel

disease -- either Crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis -- found that

1.1 to 1.7 grams of curcumin a day for two months relieved symptoms

and reduced the need for medications. The small study was not placebo

controlled, however, which leaves room for doubt.

Bharat Aggarwal, professor of cancer research at the University of

Texas' M.D. Cancer Center in Houston and a leading curcumin

researcher, says that big, expensive human trials of the compound

haven't been done because drug companies can't make money selling a

curry spice. Despite this, at least a dozen small clinical trials are

underway around the world. He believes that the compound shows great

potential for treating Alzheimer's, inflammatory bowel disease,

arthritis, cardiovascular disease and other conditions caused by

inflammation. Anecdotally, he says, " I have a thousand patients who

correspond with me, and the response [to curcumin] has been

overwhelming. "

Cole says some of his patients have also reported dramatic

improvements after trying curcumin. " Is there any truth to it? I

don't know. "

Based on evidence so far, curcumin might be worth a try for people

hoping to avoid colon cancer, including those at high risk because of

polyps, says Dr. Hardy, medical director of the Simms/Mann-UCLA

Center for Integrative Oncology. The benefits for other types of

cancers are much less certain, she says. Still, " I don't expect it to

be harmful, so if someone was excited about taking it, I wouldn't

tell them not to. "

Cole agrees that there's little downside to trying curcumin. Because

the compound is so poorly absorbed, he sees little potential for

harm. Studies have found that people can take 7 grams a day without

side effects, although it's possible that larger doses, or use over

longer periods of time, can upset the stomach and perhaps increase

the risk of bleeding.