This is an interestingeffort. Curcumin is modified to pass theblood brain barrier and it’s effect is pronounced enough to warrant seriouswork. The empirical work was alwayssuggestive but here we have moved to a strong agent that promotes the desiredeffect.
Hopefully it does not bite us asoften happens on improving a natural protocols.
While we are at it, does thisalso apply to ordinary wounds? Perhapswe need to include curcumin in wound dressings. If not, why not?
It all deserves to be followedup.
Spice drug fights stroke damage
Turmeric is a widely used spice
10 February 2011 Last updated at 04:50 ET
A drug derived from the curry spice turmeric may be able to help thebody repair some of the damage caused in the immediate aftermath of a stroke.
Researchers at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles
Their drug reached brain cells and reduced muscle and movementproblems.
The Stroke Association said it was the "first significantresearch" suggesting that the compound could aid stroke patients.
Turmeric has been used for centuries as part of traditional IndianAyurvedic medicine, and many laboratory studies suggest one of its components,curcumin, might have various beneficial properties.
However, curcumin cannot pass the "blood brain barrier" whichprotects the brain from potentially toxic molecules.
The US
The laboratory tests on rabbits suggested it might be effective up tothree hours after a stroke in humans - about the same time window available forcurrent "clot-busting" drugs.
Chain reaction
Dr Paul Lapchak, who led the study, said that the drug appeared to havean effect on "several critical mechanisms" which might keep braincells alive after a stroke.
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This is the first significant research to show that turmeric could bebeneficial to stroke patients by encouraging new cells to grow and preventingcell death after a stroke”
Dr Sharlin Ahmed,The Stroke Association
Although strokes kill brain cells by depriving them of oxygenatedblood, this triggers a chain reaction which can widen the damaged area - andincrease the level of disability suffered by the patient.
Dr Lapchak said that CNB-001 appeared to repair four "signallingpathways" which are known to help fuel the runaway destruction of braincells.
However, even though human trials are being planned, any new treatmentcould still be some time away.
Dr Sharlin Ahmed, from The Stroke Association, said that turmeric wasknown to have health benefits.
She said: "There is a great need for new treatments which canprotect brain cells after a stroke and improve recovery."
"This is the first significant research to show that turmericcould be beneficial to stroke patients by encouraging new cells to grow andpreventing cell death after a stroke.
"The results look promising, however it is still very early daysand human trials need to be undertaken."
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