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July 13, 2005

Curry Spice Cures Cancer?

One of the most interesting recent health related health related articles reports on the supression of cancer by curry (Indian cuisine is a favorate of mine - yes!):

Turmeric (Curcuma longa), also known as curcumin), is one of the most studied chemopreventive agents. It is a natural compound extracted from Curcuma longa L. that allows suppression, retardation or inversion of carcinogenesis. Curcumin is also described as an anti-tumoral, anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory agent capable of inducing apoptosis in numerous cellular systems (Curcumin-induced apoptosis is known to involve mainly the mitochondria-mediated pathway in various cancer cells of different tissues of origin). The diverse mechanisms for the anti-cancer activities continue to be researched, and so far seem to be by multiple and complementary pathways. The following article in Forbes.com focuses on the effects of curcumin on melanoma, a skin cancer that is notoriously resistant to all current modalities of cancer therapy.

Posted by Diabetologica at July 13, 2005 8:17 AM