[Efficacy of Curcumin] 3 effects of curcumin to fight chronic inflammation

[Efficacy of Curcumin] 3 effects of curcumin to fight chronic inflammation

Curcumin, a powerful anti-inflammatory agent that fights chronic inflammation

Curcumin Benefits
1. Anti -inflammatory and chronic disease prevention
2. Anti-oxidation
3. Improves rheumatoid arthritis

This is Jinny, the pharmacist.

Do you know what modern medicine points to as the root of chronic diseases such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease, dementia, cancer, and more ? That 's ' chronic inflammation '. Unlike acute inflammation, which operates in an emergency and protects the body, chronic inflammation refers to a condition in which an inflammatory response continues even in non-emergency situations . Therefore, attempts to prevent various diseases by effectively controlling chronic inflammation are continuing. 

In this regard, today I 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, and is also the pigment that gives curry its yellow color. 

Now, let's look at the anti-inflammatory effects of curcumin that have been revealed by the scientific community through research.
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. 

In 2009, I would like to introduce a review paper related to curcumin published in Trends in Pharmacological Sciences published by Cell Press, a very prestigious scientific journal publisher.

"Extensive research over the past 20 years has shown that curcumin is anti-inflammatory through down-regulation of inflammatory transcription factors (NF-ĸB), enzymes (COX-2 and 5-LOX), and cytokines (tumor necrosis factor, interleukin 1 and interleukin 6). "As inflammation plays a crucial role in most chronic diseases, curcumin's potential has been investigated in oncological, 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. Antioxidants

The various pharmacological effects of curcumin that have been attracting attention in the academic world are due to curcumin's very strong anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects. Like chronic inflammation, curcumin is also known to inhibit free radicals, another factor that makes our bodies old and sick.
In 2020, a meta-analysis of 4 randomized controlled trials (RCTs) on curcumin's antioxidant ability 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 reduce the concentration of malondialdehyde (MDA) in serum and increase the total antioxidant capacity (TAC). "Curcumin's action on markers of oxidative stress is related to its properties in the scavenging of free radicals and nitrogen, chelated metals, and regulation of numerous enzymes. Thus, curcumin has been established as an antioxidant. "
 
Reference paper: 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 hold true for arthritis as well. In particular, it is known to be helpful in rheumatoid arthritis, one of the autoimmune diseases.
In 2012, a human application test 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 non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (diclofenac sodium) .

"Interestingly, the curcumin group showed the most improvement in overall DAS (disease activity) and ACR (American College of Rheumatology) scores, and these scores were significantly better than patients in the diclofenac sodium group. And more importantly, curcumin treatment was found to be safe and was 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 to not only have some anti-inflammatory action, but also help prevent various chronic diseases as mentioned earlier . In addition, it is being studied in relation to degenerative brain diseases such as Alzheimer's or depression . So, I think it will be a more noteworthy material in the future.

I hope you have a healthy day in body and mind. It was Jinny.
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