Benefits of Tumeric – Research Study

1. Results of the study revealed that Turmeric was indeed effective.
   The t-test results show that “t Stat” is larger, (6.219209872) than “t Critical”, (2.262157) this is a significant difference and demonstrates we are 95% sure of pain reduction in using Turmeric. (statistical-significance, 2014)
2. Outlining the response to treatment with turmeric, the first seminal paper was published in 1949 in “Nature” and it discussed the effects of turmeric on the human body and different diseases, turmeric contains curcumin.
   It has displayed good therapeutic potential against a number of human diseases. The common points coming out of the study revealed good safety, tolerability, and non-toxicity, with doses up to 8 g per day.

Poor bioavailability and limited adverse effects reported by some investigators are a major limitation to the therapeutic utility of curcumin. (Subash, Gupta, Sridevi Patchva, & Bharat, 2012)
Using black pepper containing piperine added to curcumin increases it’s bioavailability by 2000%, using the same amount of curcumin.  (turmeric-bioavailability, 2016)

3. Comparing the results to other research, there were six clinical trials consisting of a total of 377 patients, comparing the use of curcumin to placebo in patients with depression.
   From the Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression, there was a score of 95% confidence interval and significant anti-anxiety effects were reported in 3 of the trials, there were no adverse events reported.
   There was limited evidence on long-term efficacy and safety of curcumin as the duration of all available studies ranged from 4 to 8 weeks.

   Curcumin appears to be well-tolerated and safe, it provided the expected results among depressed patients.
   Planned larger duration controlled trials and larger sample sizes are required with follow-up studies. (Ng , Koh, Chan, & Ho, 2017)

4. Curcumin is the main active ingredient of turmeric, it has a yellow colour, the uses are for cooking along with being a remedy for treatment and prevention of inflammatory diseases, it displays strong anti-oxidative and anti-inflammatory activities

Inflammation, be it acute or chronic, plays a major factor in some of the following diseases, obesity progression, type II diabetes, arthritis, pancreatitis, cardiovascular, neurodegenerative and metabolic diseases and  certain types of cancer. Turmeric has a long history of use in Ayurvedic medicine for the treatment of inflammatory disorders. (Shehzad, Rehman, & Lee, 2012)

5. Dietary supplements for osteoarthritis (OA) and rheumatoid arthritis (RA) require ingredients with antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties.

   From a search of 16 clinical studies three supported the use of cats claw used alone or in a combination for osteoarthritis (OA). Two others for rheumatoid arthritis (RA) with omega-3 fatty acids and supported. (Rosenbaum, O’Mathúna, Chavez, & Shields, 2010)

6. Anti-inflammatory properties of curcumin for rheumatoid arthritis, turmeric rhizome has been used medicinally in China and India for thousands of years, the active ingredient is curcumin, which is available worldwide. Preclinical studies point to mechanisms of action that are predominantly anti-inflammatory and antineoplastic, (acting to prevent, inhibit or stop the development of a tumour).

Early human clinical trials demonstrated beneficial effects for dyspepsia, peptic ulcer, inflammatory bowel disease, rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis, uveitis, orbital pseudotumor, (swelling of tissue behind the eye in an area called the orbit) and pancreatic cancer.
Curcumin is well-tolerated; the most common side effects are nausea and diarrhoea. (Asher & Spelman , 2013)
Recent studies confirm curcumin’s low bioavailability, this has been known for some time, by pairing with black pepper which contains piperine, bioavailability is increased by 2000%. (turmeric-bioavailability, 2016)

7. The significance of turmeric as a treatment approach.
   In a study titled, “A randomized, pilot study to assess the efficacy and safety of curcumin patients with rheumatoid arthritis,” forty-five patients were selected at random into three groups, group 1 patients receiving curcumin (500 mg), group 2 taking diclofenac sodium (50 mg) and group 3 taking the combination.

   The primary study endpoints were a reduction in Disease Activity Score (DAS) 28, the secondary endpoints included American College of Rheumatology (ACR) criteria for reduction in tenderness and swelling of joint scores.

   The researchers found all three treatment groups showed statistically significant changes in their DAS scores, the curcumin only group showed the highest percentage of improvement in overall DAS and ACR scores.
   More importantly, curcumin treatment was found to be safe and did not relate with any adverse events. (Sayer, 2013)

8. Two possible research issues, one being to run trials with piperine added to the turmeric and measure results with piperine v’s without piperine.

The second issue would be to see is what effect the added piperine has on adverse effects.

References

Asher, G. N., & Spelman , K. (2013, March). pubmed/23594449. Retrieved from ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23594449

Ng , Q. X., Koh, S. S., Chan, H. W., & Ho, C. Y. (2017, February 21). pubmed/28236605. Retrieved from ncbi.nlm.nih: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28236605

Rosenbaum, C. C., O’Mathúna, D. P., Chavez, M., & Shields, K. (2010, April 2016). 20232616. Retrieved from pubmed: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20232616

Sayer, J. (2013, December 26). turmeric-extract-found-superior-blockbuster-drug-rheumatoid-arthritis. Retrieved from

https://www.greenmedinfo.com

Shehzad, A., Rehman, G., & Lee, Y. S. (2012, December 22). pubmed/23281076. Retrieved from pubmed:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23281076

statistical-significance. (2014, April 1). Retrieved from iwh.on.ca: https://www.iwh.on.ca/wrmb/statistical-significance

Subash, C., Gupta, Sridevi Patchva, & Bharat, B. (2012, November 12). articles/PMC3535097. Retrieved from ncbi.nlm.nih.gov: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3535097/

turmeric-bioavailability. (2016, January 1). Retrieved from dailyhealthpost.com: https://dailyhealthpost.com/improve-turmeric-bioavailability/

turmericforhealth.com. (2013, September 14). Retrieved from health-benefits-of-black-pepper-and-turmeric:

http://www.turmericforhealth.com/turmeric-benefits/health-benefits-of-black-pepper-and-turmeric