Hi, interesting topic.

Ron has been looking at curcumin for a long time, and in the east it has traditionally been part of treatments for neurological conditions. The info on BB permeability seems to indicate that things can pass to the PD brain than in people with undamaged brains. Neurologically impaired people with things like MS and PD are more vulnerable to inflammation, and infections can increase the symptoms they experience dramatically. Things like co-enzyme Q10 have been suggested as helping in neuroprotection with doctors prescribing them over many years in some cases, at quite an expense to patients. The problem with even thinking about neuroprotection is how to you actually evaluate it? Especially in something as individual as PD. So the only measure is against other patients - in the long term. Curcumin is somewhat in this category, I think. Unlike ldopa for instance it does not have fast effects, nor was it ever likely to. But it may have subtle effects that would not be seen in a 12 week period, but over a year or two years it may reap rewards, over ten years the person may be taking less medication and doing better than his/her peers. If there are many people like this then you could say, yes it is neuroprotective, especially given the slow rate of progression in most people with idiopathic PD.

Curcumin is derived from turmeric, which is used in many preparations in ayurvedic medicine for antiseptic and anti-inflammatory properties, among other things. And of course in cooking.

Everyone wants pills that have an instant magic bullet effect, but those that do often have side effects that are intolerable. In fact it is often said that the therapeutic effect is itself a side effect that may have positive as well as negative results.

Dementia is a difficult and hard to treat condition that is only just coming to be understood. If there is something that is known to help it makes sense to take that, but you may also want to take something that has a less definable effect that supports brain. They are different things. You cannot compare them on a like for like basis, as with something that has specifically been found to be suitable for dementia.

Only when drugs have been on the market for sometime and used consistently for a given condition is it possible to see what is really happening. That is why there are stage 4 studies in live human populations.

Sadly there are no quick fixes for PD at this time. The medications are tough to get used to and have loads of unwanted effects. Other than medications the best thing in early PD is to keep moving. As much as possible.