Turmeric

1. By Xotchil Medina Turmeric

2. Overview • Introduction and Background • Benefits • Efficacy • Mechanism of Action • Intended Use • Conflicting Research • Safety Concerns • Professional Position

3. Introduction • Comes from the root Curcuma longa, a member of the ginger family • Grind rhizomes • Bright yellow powder • Curcuminoids are main ingredients • Mainly Curcumin- makes up 90% of mixture • Referred to as “curry powder”

4. Background • Traditional Medicinal Practices • Topical: treat blistering, parasitic skin infections, wounds, and acne • Oral: treat common cold, liver diseases, urinary tract diseases, and blood purifier

5. Benefits

6. Efficacy against Cancer • Curcumin molecule can interact with many different target compounds • Reduces inflammation, cell proliferation, and invasion • Aides in genomic modulation and cell death • Good candidate that can be used alone or combined with other therapies

7. Efficacy Continued • Combined with other therapies • Natural Compounds: mixes with compound from soy and they can reduce proliferation of human breast oestrogen-positive cells • Conventional: with radiation curcumin can make cells that have previously been treated become more sensitive to radiation again and cause cell death

8. Problems • Curcumin is not very bioavailable outside the gastrointestinal tract when taken orally • Methods used to enhance bioavailability • Formulate curcumin in nanoparticles: putting them in liposomes, miscelles, and phospholipid complexes • Mixing with other compounds: piperine from pepper and quercetin from soy counteract enzymes that digest curcumin

9. Clinical Trials • Phase I- in a few growth slowed a small amount out of 25 people • Others had growth despite the treatment • Phase II- one person had a brief, but apparent tumor regression out of 25 people • Conclusion is that there is biological activity • Phase III- ongoing clinical trial that results are not yet published

10. Mechanism of Action • Cell death by apoptosis • Induces up-regulation of pro-apoptotic proteins from Bcl-2 family and down regulation of anit-apoptic proteins • Leads to opening of mitochondrial permeability pores to release cytochrome c, and activation of the apoptosome

11. Intended Use • Capsule form • Typical dose is 250 to 500mg 2-3times a day • Powder • Buy it from the grocery store and cook with it • Use 1/8 tsp. or more to taste • Tincture (extract) • 1/8 to ½ tsp. in warm water taken 2-3 times a day. • Tea • ¼ tsp of tumeric powder and powdered ginger in 1 cup boiling water • Let steep for 10 minutes and then add honey or lemon juice if desired • Drink 2-3 cups a day

12. Conflicting Research • Some have a strong belief that curcumin can help with the reduction and treatment of cancer • Limitations: the groups are usually very small and the results seem to vary within those clinical trials • Some also believe that it only helps with the inflammation aspect that may cause cancer • They don’t have concrete evidence to believe otherwise

13. Safety Concerns • Turmeric is Generically Recognized As Safe (GRAS) by the FDA • Acceptable daily intake is .1-.3 mg/kg-body weight • Research has not come across toxicity levels • The amounts administered in research is usually way more than people would consume in the diet • People who shouldn’t take it • Pregnant women, people with gallbladder or bile duct conditions, allergies, and people using aspirin

14. Professional Position • Recommendations from research • As a whole I found that some people think it is beneficial for anti-inflammatory purposes instead of taking prescription drugs • Research is still early and they cannot be sure if it should be used to treat cancer • My Personal Opinion • There are not many safety concerns if you’re healthy and humans can consume a large amount of it without toxicity concerns, and the list of possible benefits cannot hurt

15. Question or Comments?