Curry Spice May Thwart Heart Failure

(WebMD)  Curcumin, an ingredient in the curry spice turmeric, may help prevent heart failure.

That's according to two new studies done on rats, not people.

In both studies, researchers gave curcumin to rats. The rats then got surgery or drugs designed to put them at risk of heart failure.

The rats that got curcumin showed more resistance to heart failure and inflammation than comparison groups of rats that didn't get curcumin.

Also, in one of the studies, the researchers saw signs that curcumin treatment reversed heart enlargement. The other study didn't include that experiment.

Together, the studies suggest that curcumin short-circuited the heart enlargement process, though it's not clear how it did that.

Both studies showed no sign of side effects from curcumin.

The researchers included Tatsuya Morimoto, MD, PhD, of the National Hospital Organization in Kyoto, Japan, and Hong-Liang Li, MD, PhD, of the University of Toronto's cardiology division.

The studies "came to nearly identical conclusions," says an editorial published with the studies in February's edition of The Journal of Clinical Investigation.

But editorialist Jonathan Epstein, MD, cautions against counting on curcumin to prevent heart failure in people, since the findings in rodents may not apply to people.

Epstein works at University of Pennsylvania's cell and developmental biology department, Cardiovascular Institute, and Institute for Regenerative Medicine.

By Miranda Hitti
Reviewed by Louise Chang
©2008 WebMD, Inc. All rights reserved

[kennergirl]

Iceman...I think thats Ginger Spice''s sister.

[sandsofchlai]

Also don''''t forget that special aroma that stays with you and announces your presence wherever you go.


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Posted by mediapreachr at 12:56 PM : Feb 28, 2008


ROFLMFAO!! Ever been in a VA Hospital, all the Dot

Head Doctors really stink those places up!!!

[peacedreamer-2009]

And if you are already taking heart medication, don''t take curry, as there can be serious and even fatal interactions between your medicine and curcumin.

[peacedreamer-2009]

BUT, too much curcumin can be toxic, and the difference between a theraputic amount and a tozic amount is tiny, so don''t run off and start chowing down on curry thinking that you are doing something healthy.

[mediapreachr]

Also don''t forget that special aroma that stays with you and announces your presence wherever you go.

[iceman_1960]

If Bill Buckley had eaten more curry he might be alive today.

[baileyccc]

Yes it is well known the effects of curcumin. What surprise me was that CBS publish this because it''s largest advertiser "Big Pharma" would be furious.

[mrcim]

The anti-inflammatory effects of curcumin in the huuman body are well established. It is effective against essentially all of the inflammation factors including cytokines like Interlukin-6 which is a major precursor to C-Reactive Protein (CRP). CRP has been shown to have very high correlation with heart disease and inflammation is a bigger risk factor for heart disease than high cholesterol.

[mrcim]

The anti-inflammatory effects of curcumin in the huuman body are well established. It is effective against essentially all of the inflammation factors including cytokines like Interlukin-6 which is a major precursor to C-Reactive Protein (CRP). CRP has been shown to have very high correlation with heart disease and inflammation is a bigger risk factor for heart disease than high cholesterol.

[iceman_1960]

"Curry Spice May Thwart Heart Failure"
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Which one is she ?

I thought I knew all the Spice Girls.