Curry spice 'kills cancer cells'

The yellow spice gives curries their bright colour

An extract found in the bright yellow curry spice turmeric can kill off cancer cells, scientists have shown.

The chemical - curcumin - has long been thought to have healing powers and is already being tested as a treatment for arthritis and even dementia.

Now tests by a team at the Cork Cancer Research Centre show it can destroy gullet cancer cells in the lab.

Cancer experts said the findings in the British Journal of Cancer could help doctors find new treatments.

Dr Sharon McKenna and her team found that curcumin started to kill cancer cells within 24 hours.

'Natural' remedy

The cells also began to digest themselves, after the curcumin triggered lethal cell death signals.

Dr McKenna said: "Scientists have known for a long time that natural compounds have the potential to treat faulty cells that have become cancerous and we suspected that curcumin might have therapeutic value."

Dr Lesley Walker, director of cancer information at Cancer Research UK, said: "This is interesting research which opens up the possibility that natural chemicals found in turmeric could be developed into new treatments for oesophageal cancer.

"Rates of oesophageal cancer have gone up by more than a half since the 70s and this is thought to be linked to rising rates of obesity, alcohol intake and reflux disease so finding ways to prevent this disease is important too."


British Journal of Cancer (2009) 101, 1585–1595. doi:10.1038/sj.bjc.6605308 www.bjcancer.com
Published online 6 October 2009
Curcumin induces apoptosis-independent death in oesophageal cancer cells

....Curcumin-responsive cells were found to accumulate poly-ubiquitinated proteins and cyclin B, consistent with a disturbance of the ubiquitin–proteasome system.......

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The ubiquitin-proteasome system is involved in PD. Don't ask me how, I can't recall, but it is!

http://www.nature.com/bjc/journal/v1.../6605308a.html

i know this has been asked a million times but i am already spending so much time researching older posts, can someone tell me how much to take, what kind, and where to get it/

thank you!
paula

Hi Paula, do not know the answer to your questions, though FYI, if one is taking an MAO-B inhibitor, do not take the curcumin preparation that has piperdine as an ingredient. Piperdine is pepper and inhibits MAO B 's and is generally contraindicated with MAO-B inhibitors (as is again, everything but blue lights).

and that would be azilect right? i'm off of it now. any others? i don't take selegiline either.

paula

Hi Paula, Azilect and selegiline are the 2 MAO B inhibitors used for PD, to my limited knowledge. madelyn

Is bioperine the same as piperine? The one we have contains bioperine...and we take azilect as well. If bioperine is the same, what is the effect on the azilect? And does this mean you can't use pepper in your food if you are taking azilect? No chili? Oh no!

The Bioperine is a concentrated form from black pepper. I think the amount in real pepper is much less.

Bioperine also increases absorption from the intestine of nutrients and some drugs. Since the drug information is sketchy still, I assume it can alter many just to be cautious. Things like Digoxin etc with a narrow window between useful and toxic would be problematic. Heart medications, Blood pressure etc.
All the drugs we have now, are tested for given rates of absorption. Change that and one changes blood levels, and therefore responses.

From personal experience, let me urge you to take turmeric in either tablet or capsule form rather than the powdered spice. If you have an infection of H. pylori in your stomach, the powder will impact the colony and kill most of it. This, in turn, will dump a large quantity of poisonous endotoxin into your system faster than you can detox. This can be terrible for PWP and cause further neurodegeneration quickly. I have two fingers on my right hand that have not been "right" for some years due to that. Had I been less vigilant things could have been much worse. Tablets, in particular, hold together long enough to get past the stomach where the colony lives.

does anyone have a source on the Bioperine thing? I want to learn more about this as I take curcumin with bioperine and didn't notice any ill effects when adding Azilect, but may be doing something ill-advised!

Thanks as always for everyone's knowledge and research efforts!

Sasha

Try this:
www.bioperine.com

Not much on it yet..... I don't think enough is known about it
to be really comfortable with it, concerning drugs.

http://jpet.aspetjournals.org/cgi/co...ract/302/2/645