Curcumin the yellow pigment present in Curry Spices and Tumeric, may not only ward off the brain disease Alzheimers, but it could also be used to treat existing victims, researchers say.
Professor Gregory Pole and his University of California research team have found that Curcumin pevents the accumulation in the brain of the dangerous protein known as, Beta Amyloids, the most common cause of Alzheimers disease.
This discovery may explain why in India rates of Alzheimers are the lowest in the world.

Additional information published in the 'Journal of Biological Chemistry' reveals that the low molecular weight of curcumin, allows it to easily penetrate the brain and attach itself to the beta amyloids, curbing their damaging effects.
Researchers now hope that Curcumin could be used as a powerful antioxidant and anti-inflammatory drug for other diseases.

Is curcumin the same thing as the spice "cumin"?

Kate: Think tumeric.

But if this is true then it should be equally true that there is a reduced incidence of Alzheimers in other countries where tumeric is a major part of the diet.

So what are the numbers for Thailand and Malaysia.

If they are not similarly low then it is most likely just wishful thinking.

Why Dan, are you suggesting that american medical studies should be based on "unreliable" data from outside the realm of FDA? Shame on you. :rolleyes:

Jokes aside, I would like to still be alive when something like this will actually happen for real.But do remember that this is not in the best interest of "anyone", since what you propose means circumventing a lot of medical research (to be read as a lot of grants for studies), and would inevitably lead to one asking the question why the rate of Alzheimers occurence is so large on the north-american continent as compared to other countries on/and other continents.

Also remember that the FDA refuses to accept drugs that have been tested/studied in other western/civilized countries like Italy and Austria, so chances to accept data from countries like Thailand and Malaysia are slim to none.

Most likely what will happen is that there will be a lot of future research/money invested in this issue, and the conclusion will be something similar to what you hear every morning on the major news channels.

Why is the incidence of Alzheimers so high in the US you ask? Simple: Television. Can't think of anything more likely to lead to brain-rot. Just about everyone here knows who survived on survivor (I don't) and who won the World Series last year (I don't) and who was in the Super Bowl (I don't). But there are not 1% of them that know how their television works.

Gee, Dan. You mean it's not billion and zillions of tiny little guys inside waving little teeny hankies of different colors? Would Bill Gates lie to us?

Yes!