Curcumin:
A Preventative To Colon Cancer & Inflammation?
by Jennifer Good
Among its many benefits, curcumin has been shown to slow the spread of
cancer and new tumor blood vessel growth. It has even been reported to
kill off cancer cells. It seems to be particularly effective in the
treatment and prevention of colon cancer, with study results showing that
patients taking 3.6 grams a day have slowed down the progression of the
disease.2 In fact, some studies have shown that it can inhibit
colon cancer cells by some 96% in a matter of hours.3 It also
appears to have great potential in countering the effects of prostate
cancer and breast cancer. In a sense, curcumin can be thought of as
natural chemotherapy -- with the ability to selectively kill cancer cells,
while at the same time leaving normal cells alone. Laboratory work has
revealed that curcumin can decrease swelling and inflammation and clean up
free radicals.
Curcumin is not just for cancer prevention since more studies are
suggesting its value for arthritis treatment. One 3 month long study from
Italy studied curcumin's effect of osteoarthritis of the knee. After 90
days, the researchers found a 58 percent decrease in overall reported pain
and stiffness as well as an improvement in physical functioning among the
curcumin group compared to the controls. Even more interesting, in the
curcumin group, they found a 16-fold decline in C-reactive protein, a
marker for inflammation, and patients were able to reduce their use of
non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs by 63%. Since arthritis is so common
today, this research is quite compelling for the millions who suffer from
arthritis pain.4
The one stumbling block found so far is that curcumin (either in turmeric
or when taken as a concentrated supplement) is not easily absorbed by the
body. However, mixing it with fat appears to aid in its absorption. And in
fact, some curcumin supplements have been designed to have much higher
absorption levels.
It should be noted that, even if not fully absorbed, curcumin will be
certain to reach the cells of the digestive tract, perhaps explaining its
positive results with colon cancer. In other words, a study specifically
on curcumin supplementation, colon cancer, and smoking might be
particularly interesting. And while they're at it, they might want to add
green tea catechins to the mix, since the combination of curcumin and
green tea appears to be especially effective when it comes to colon
cancer.
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References:
(1) http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/
(2) http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/
(3) http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/
(4) cms.herbalgram.org/press/2010/