(Newswire.net — January 31, 2015) Portland, OR — Losing one’s memory and mental abilities to cognitive decline is something we all fear, and the current statistics on the prevalence of cognitive decline in this country are not pretty. By age 65, sadly 1 in 8 Americans will suffer from severe cognitive decline, and by age 80, an astonishing 1 in 2 will.
Researchers have been working for years to develop an effective treatment. But one “miracle” drug after another has failed to live up to its promises, and it’s becoming more and more apparent that drugs will not be the “go to” source. However, the medical establishment is so narrowly focused on finding a “cure” that they can’t see the forest for the trees.
Do you know about turmeric? Turmeric is that bright yellow spice found mainly in curry powder. But turmeric also has a long history as a healing herby spice. India is well known for using turmeric in their culinary delicacies but India has the highest per capita consumption of turmeric AND the lowest incidence of cognitive decline worldwide!
One of the things that shows up the most during cognitive decline is the formation in the brain of abnormal protein structures. Normally when malformed proteins are formed with the brain, the immune system sends out cells known as macrophages, which engulf and destroy the proteins. If this ordinary function fails, defective proteins accumulate in the brain and cognitive decline can follow.
A recent study showed that curcumin encourages the immune system to send macrophages to the brain. A clinical trial was performed that involved people with severe cognitive decline to test the effects of curcumin. The results showed that participants taking curcumin had significantly higher levels of dissolved abnormal proteins in their blood compared to those in the placebo group.
This study showed that curcumin has the ability to effectively pass into the brain, bind to beta-amyloid plaques and assist the body in their breakdown.
Curcumin is one of the only substances known to have such a profound protective effect on the brain.
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