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COMMENTARY

Curcumin's Cognitive Benefits Look Convincing

Richard S. Isaacson, MD

March 01, 2018

Latest Data on Curcumin

Hi. I am Dr Richard Isaacson, director of the Alzheimer's Prevention Clinic at Weill Cornell Medicine and NewYork-
Presbyterian in New York City, here on behalf of Medscape.

You may have heard the exciting news about curcumin and its potential for treating Alzheimer's disease. A recent study by
Gary Small and colleagues,[1] published in the American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, showed something really
interesting. It was the first study that used a randomized trial design in a small group of 40 patients (aged 50 to 90) with mild
memory complaints, who received either placebo or a specific type of curcumin with very small nanoparticles.

Why is this important? In the past, curcumin had trouble with absorption in a variety of supplements that were tried. For
example, several years back, John Ringman and colleagues[2] published results in a group of patients with Alzheimer's
disease, in which they found that curcumin was not effective for delaying or helping symptoms in any way. When they looked
at the patients' blood, they found that the curcumin pills were not getting absorbed.

The philosophy behind this new nanoparticle version of curcumin (Theracumin®) is that it will lead to better absorption.
When this trial was performed, not only did the patients who were randomized to the active form of curcumin have improved
memory function at 18 months, but they actually had less amyloid in specific parts of their brain that correlated with
Alzheimer's disease.

Practical Applications

What does this all mean? From a practical clinical perspective, this is a pretty exciting study. Curcumin is a very well-
tolerated supplement overall. In my clinical practice, I have been recommending that patients who are interested in
prevention or have even mild memory loss cook with curcumin, which is the active form of turmeric. Cooking with it may
increase absorption, provide a little bit of fat in the meal, etc.

When it comes to the pills, I think it is exciting. While we do not know exactly what the right dose is or which patients it will
work in, this preliminary evidence suggests that curcumin may play a role in the therapeutic paradigm of Alzheimer's
disease.

Should curcumin be used for prevention? For treatment? I do not think that we know the answers yet, but hopefully further
studies will occur that will clarify this.

When it comes to risk reduction, there are several reasons why curcumin may have benefit. Overall, it reduces inflammation
when it has been studied in a variety of conditions, from cancer to arthritis. Maybe, if you can calm down the inflammatory
pathways in the brain, you can press the brakes on amyloid deposition.

It could also work through antioxidant properties. I am not exactly sure, but regardless, we need more research studies to
figure this out.

In summary, there is now a degree of evidence to suggest that curcumin, in this specific nanoparticle form, may play a role in
both the risk reduction and potential therapeutic management of Alzheimer's disease.

For Medscape, I am Dr Richard Isaacson.

References

1. Small GW, Siddarth P, Li Z, et al. Memory and brain amyloid and tau effects of a bioavailable form of curcumin in non-
demented adults: a double-blind, placebo-controlled 18-month trial. Am J Geriatr Psychiatry. 2017 Oct 27. [Epub

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 https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/893160_print

ahead of print]

2. Ringman JM, Frautschy SA, Teng E, et al. Oral curcumin for Alzheimer's disease: tolerability and efficacy in a 24-
week randomized, double blind, placebo-controlled study. Alzheimers Res Ther. 2012;4:43.

Medscape Neurology © 2018 WebMD, LLC

Any views expressed above are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect the views of WebMD or Medscape.

Cite this article: Richard S. Isaacson. Curcumin's Cognitive Benefits Look Convincing - Medscape - Mar 01, 2018.

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