Curcumin, a powerful anti-inflammatory material that fights chronic inflammation
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Curcumin, a powerful anti-inflammatory material that fights chronic inflammation
Curcumin Benefits
1. Anti -inflammatory and chronic disease prevention 2. Antioxidant
3. Improves Rheumatoid Arthritis
Hello. This is pharmacist Jinny.
Do you know what modern medicine points to as the root of chronic diseases such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease, dementia, and cancer ? This is ' chronic inflammation '. Unlike acute inflammation, which works in an emergency to protect the body, chronic inflammation refers to a condition in which the inflammatory response continues even in non-emergency situations . Accordingly, attempts are being made to prevent various diseases by effectively controlling chronic inflammation.
In this regard, today we would like to learn about 'curcumin', which has recently been attracting attention as a powerful anti-inflammatory material. Curcumin is one of the polyphenols contained in turmeric, which is also the pigment that gives curry its yellowish color.
Now, let's take a look at the anti-inflammatory effects of curcumin that research has revealed.
1. Anti-inflammatory and chronic disease prevention
Curcumin has actually been used to treat inflammatory diseases for centuries, and over the past 20 years, a wide variety of studies have clearly demonstrated its anti-inflammatory properties by modulating inflammatory factors.
Here is a review article on curcumin published in Trends in Pharmacological Sciences in 2009, published by Cell Press, a very authoritative scientific journal publisher.
"Extensive research over the past 20 years has shown that curcumin may be anti-inflammatory through downregulation of inflammatory transcription factors (NF-ĸB), enzymes (COX-2 and 5-LOX), and cytokines (tumor necrosis factor, interleukin 1 and interleukin 6). It has been shown to mediate inflammatory effects. As inflammation plays a crucial role in most chronic diseases, the potential of curcumin has been investigated in neoplastic, neurological, cardiovascular, pulmonary and metabolic diseases. "
Reference paper: Aggarwal BB, Sung B. (2009). Pharmacological basis for the role of curcumin in chronic diseases: an age-old spice with modern targets. Trends Pharmacol Sc, 30(2), 85-94.
2. Antioxidant
The various pharmacological effects of curcumin that are attracting attention in the academic world are due to its very strong anti-inflammatory and antioxidant action. Like chronic inflammation, curcumin is also known to inhibit free radicals, another factor that makes us age and ill.
In 2020, a meta-analysis of four randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of curcumin's antioxidant capacity was published in the journal Antioxidants. The paper reported the following conclusions:
"In summary, this meta-analysis showed that pure curcumin has antioxidant properties. It has the potential to decrease serum malondialdehyde (MDA) concentrations and increase total antioxidant capacity (TAC). Curcumin's action on oxidative stress markers is related to its properties for free radicals and nitrogen, scavenge of chelated metals, and regulation of numerous enzymes. Thus, curcumin has been demonstrated as an antioxidant. "
Reference Papers: Jakubczyk, K., Drużga, A., Katarzyna, J., & Skonieczna-Żydecka, K. (2020). Antioxidant Potential of Curcumin-A Meta-Analysis of Randomized Clinical Trials. Antioxidants (Basel, Switzerland), 9(11), 1092.
3. Improves Rheumatoid Arthritis
Curcumin's powerful anti-inflammatory properties are the same for arthritis. In particular, it is known to be helpful in rheumatoid arthritis, one of the autoimmune diseases.
In 2012, a human trial conducted on patients with ongoing rheumatoid arthritis was published in Phytotherapy Research. Studies have shown that curcumin can help improve disease activity in rheumatoid arthritis more effectively than nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (diclofenac sodium) .
“Interestingly, the curcumin group showed the most improvement in overall DAS (disease activity) and ACR (American Society of Rheumatology) scores, which were significantly better than patients in the diclofenac sodium group. And more importantly, curcumin treatment has been found to be safe and is not associated with any side effects. ”
Reference paper: Chandran B, Goel A. (2012). A randomized, pilot study to assess the efficacy and safety of curcumin in patients with active rheumatoid arthritis. Phytother Res, 26(11), 1719-25.
Today, we learned about curcumin, an anti-inflammatory material. Curcumin is known not only to have a slight anti-inflammatory action, but also to help prevent various chronic diseases , as mentioned earlier . In addition, it is being studied in relation to degenerative brain diseases such as Alzheimer's and depression . Therefore, I think it is a material that deserves more attention in the future.
I hope you have a healthy body and mind. More than that, it was Jinny.
