On Tuesday 04 Jan 2005 21:30, Meir Weiss wrote:
> begin 666 news.htm

Hi Meir,

I think it better if you cut'n'paste the news stories, most people won't be
able to read this format - here's the translation:-

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Curry Spice May Fight Alzheimer's

Tue Jan 4, 1:23 PM ET

By Amy Norton


NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - The pigment that gives curry spice its yellow hue
may also be able to break up the "plaques" that mark the brains of
Alzheimer's disease (news - web sites) patients, early research suggests.

Scientists found that curcumin, a component of the yellow curry spice
turmeric, was able to reduce deposits of beta-amyloid proteins in the brains
of elderly lab mice that ate curcumin as part of their diets.

In addition, when the researchers added low doses of curcumin to human
beta-amyloid proteins in a test tube, the compound kept the proteins from
aggregating and blocked the formation of the amyloid fibers that make up
Alzheimer's plaques.

Accumulation of beta-amyloid proteins in the brain is one of the hallmarks of
Alzheimer's disease.

The new findings suggest that curcumin could be capable of both treating
Alzheimer's and lowering a person's risk of developing the disease, said
study co-author Dr. Gregory M. Cole of the University of California Los
Angeles and the Greater Los Angeles Veterans Affairs Healthcare System.

Cole and his colleagues have gotten funding to begin a small trial in humans
suffering from Alzheimer's disease.

"The big question is how high are the doses we need to fight Alzheimer's and
are they really safe in elderly patients?" he told Reuters Health.

The current findings, published online recently by the Journal of Biological
Chemistry, add to the body of research pointing to curcumin's medicinal
value. Long used as part of traditional Indian medicine, curcumin is now
under study as a potential cancer therapy, and animal research has suggested
the compound might serve as a treatment for multiple sclerosis and cystic
fibrosis.

Interest in curcumin as an Alzheimer's therapy grew after studies found low
rates of the disease among elderly adults in India, where curry spice is a
dietary staple.

Curcumin is structurally similar to a stain known as Congo red, which is used
by pathologists to identify amyloid protein in autopsied brain tissue in
order to confirm a diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease after a patient's death.

Curcumin can also stain amyloid deposits, Cole said, but it has the additional
ability, when eaten or injected, to cross into a living animal's brain and
bind to amyloid deposits.

What's more, he explained, curcumin is an antioxidant and anti-inflammatory
agent, and it appears to counter the oxidative damage and inflammation that
arises in response to amyloid accumulation.

"It attacks both the amyloid and the response to amyloid," Cole said.

Because oxidative damage and inflammation mark a number of diseases of aging -
such as arthritis and the buildup of plaques in the heart's arteries - Cole
said he and his colleagues hope that curcumin eventually proves useful for a
range of age-related conditions.


SOURCE: Journal of Biological Chemistry, online Dec. 7, 2004.