Remarkable Recoveries Reported after Administration of Turmeric
Late last year, 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 were "improved remarkably" as a result of consuming 764 milligram of turmeric (curcumin 100 mg/day) for 12 weeks. According to the study:
"All three patients exhibited irritability, agitation, anxiety, and apathy, two patients suffer from urinary incontinence and wanderings. 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 3 months of treatment, both the patients' symptoms and the burden on their caregivers were significantly decreased.
The report describes the improvements thusly:
"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, even attaining the status of a 'Golden Goddess,' 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.
