Curcumin, the Curry Spice
Part 1

A look at how curcumin affects cells in Alzheimer’s disease and how this research may relate to HD

How Curry Relates to the Epidemiology of Alzheimer’s in Humans

Scientists first became interested in studying curcumin when they looked into some statistics about the prevalence of AD in India, where curry is eaten in large quantities. In India, a relatively small proportion (1%) of people age 65 and older have AD. Additionally, in comparison to their American counterparts (who eat significantly less curry), Indians aged 70-79 develop AD one-fourth as often.

Although these data indicate that there is something special about Indian people with regard to AD, the many factors involved in the disease (which may involve a variety of things like genetics, exposure to certain toxins, eating things besides curry, etc.) make it inaccurate to state that curcumin is definitely the cause of India’s low prevalence of AD. However, the fact that curry (and thus, curcumin) is much more common in the Indian diet than the American diet does demonstrate what is called an inverse correlation between the use of curry and the prevalence of AD; that is to say, higher average amounts of curry intake are associated with lower prevalences of AD.

Having recognized this inverse correlation between curry and AD, scientists were able to take the research one step further. Interested in finding out whether or not curcumin might have a causal effect on combating AD, researchers turned to rodents (mice) as experimental animals in which to study the effect of curcumin on nerve cells. What they found in this research is discussed in the next section.

Last Modified: 6-28-04

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