Curry Aids Alzheimers Disease and it's growing problem against our elderly ones health, this is a book report on an article from the UCLA times

Essay by calsouthpoleUniversity, Bachelor'sB+, January 2005

download word file, 3 pages 5.0

My news article appeared in UCLA News, which I found online. "UCLA-VA Study Names India Dietary Staple as Potential Alzheimer's Weapon. Breaks Up Brain Plaques in Mice"(Cole, 2004). The title immediately caught my attention because Alzheimer's Disease(AD) is a growing problem in our aging population, and the idea of a common foodstuff reversing it seemed either miraculous or science fiction. The article explained the pathogenesis of AD very well. AD is an irreversible, progressive degeneration of the brain caused by plaque buildup on nerve cells. This plaque consists of aggregated fibrils of amyloid, a proteinaceous substance. Inflammation has been found to cause the aggregation of amyloid; therefore anti-inflammatory agents should prevent the development of AD. Earlier studies found that curcumin, from which curry is derived, is an extremely potent antioxidant and anti-inflammatory agent. This is due to it's low molecular weight and molecular polarity, which enables it to penetrate large proteins and break them up.

UCLA News also described the hypothesis of the study well: that, since curcumin is a potent anti-inflammatory agent it should prevent amyloid aggregation and perhaps even be able to disaggregate previously formed plaque. The news story also reported the results fairly, but did not say what type of study it was or what the operationalization was.

I was unable to download the full text of the study from the Journal of Chemical Biology, because the study is protected by the twelve month restriction. However, I was able to download the abstract, which explained that this was an experimental study, and described the operationalization. Tg2567 mice, a strain genetically programmed to develop AD, were divided into experimental and control groups. The experimental group was fed curcumin in their diet and also injected with curcumin. The control group received no curcumin and led a peaceful murine existence...