The Latest Clinical Trial of Turmeric Curcumin for Alzheimer’s Disease Treatment

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Can turmeric really sharpen memory within hours?

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Below is an approximation of this video’s audio content. To see any graphs, charts, graphics, images, and quotes to which Dr. Greger may be referring, watch the above video.

Perhaps you’ve heard that turmeric, the golden curry spice, is the new so-called wonder supplement. Or is it curcumin—the yellow pigment in turmeric that is the wunderkind? It’s been marketed so well that turmeric lattes can be purchased in ordinary chain coffee shops, and turmeric smoothies are just about everywhere. So, is it all quackery, or is turmeric really a spice for life?

In Dr. Greger’s book How Not to Age, he mentioned a remarkable case series in which the symptoms of three Alzheimer’s patients dramatically improved after turmeric treatment. In one case, an 83-year-old woman started losing her short-term memory and becoming disoriented, but after taking turmeric for a year, she came to recognize her family, living a peaceful life without significant behavioral symptoms of dementia. The investigators concluded that this was the first demonstration of turmeric as an “effective and safe drug” for the treatment of Alzheimer’s. Of course, it’s not a drug at all. Turmeric is just a spice you can get at the grocery store. The researchers had given study participants around a quarter teaspoon a day, which would come out to less than five cents.

In a petri dish, curcumin not only inhibits the production of amyloid beta and prevents its aggregation into plaques, but it can also help break up preformed plaques and tangles, as well as protect nerve cells from amyloid neurotoxicity. Curcumin is so good at homing in on amyloid that it can be used to stain and label plaques for imaging in brain tissue from patients with Alzheimer’s disease.

A single dose of a third of a teaspoon of straight turmeric (stuffed in a capsule to disguise it) can improve working memory within six hours after consumption in healthy older adults. Chronic daily intake of curcumin in middle-aged or older adults without dementia, in studies that lasted much longer––between 12 weeks and 18 months––had mixed results, some showing improved cognition over placebo, while others showed no better effects. When studies were compiled in a meta-analysis, there does appear to be a small cognitive benefit for curcumin supplementation in older adults without dementia. But what about in people who need it the most?

There had been two randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trials of curcumin in patients with Alzheimer’s disease, and they both failed to show cognitive benefits. Why didn’t researchers see the same dramatic results with curcumin supplements that were reported in the case reports of those given turmeric? Perhaps those cases were total flukes. On the other hand, perhaps turmeric, the whole food, may be greater than the sum of its parts. Curcumin is just one of hundreds of compounds found in turmeric. In response, some researchers have suggested creating a blend of components that “represents turmeric in its medicinal value better than curcumin alone.” But why concoct some artificial mixture when Mother Nature already packaged it all in turmeric? Because a common spice can’t be patented, and if you can’t patent it, how are you going to charge more than five cents? The most recent RCT of Alzheimer’s and curcumin showed a significant benefit over placebo of a patented curcumin extract, but the study was done by the supplement company that sells it. So, we would need to see independent verification before we can be sure.

Please consider volunteering to help out on the site.

Motion graphics by Avo Media

Below is an approximation of this video’s audio content. To see any graphs, charts, graphics, images, and quotes to which Dr. Greger may be referring, watch the above video.

Perhaps you’ve heard that turmeric, the golden curry spice, is the new so-called wonder supplement. Or is it curcumin—the yellow pigment in turmeric that is the wunderkind? It’s been marketed so well that turmeric lattes can be purchased in ordinary chain coffee shops, and turmeric smoothies are just about everywhere. So, is it all quackery, or is turmeric really a spice for life?

In Dr. Greger’s book How Not to Age, he mentioned a remarkable case series in which the symptoms of three Alzheimer’s patients dramatically improved after turmeric treatment. In one case, an 83-year-old woman started losing her short-term memory and becoming disoriented, but after taking turmeric for a year, she came to recognize her family, living a peaceful life without significant behavioral symptoms of dementia. The investigators concluded that this was the first demonstration of turmeric as an “effective and safe drug” for the treatment of Alzheimer’s. Of course, it’s not a drug at all. Turmeric is just a spice you can get at the grocery store. The researchers had given study participants around a quarter teaspoon a day, which would come out to less than five cents.

In a petri dish, curcumin not only inhibits the production of amyloid beta and prevents its aggregation into plaques, but it can also help break up preformed plaques and tangles, as well as protect nerve cells from amyloid neurotoxicity. Curcumin is so good at homing in on amyloid that it can be used to stain and label plaques for imaging in brain tissue from patients with Alzheimer’s disease.

A single dose of a third of a teaspoon of straight turmeric (stuffed in a capsule to disguise it) can improve working memory within six hours after consumption in healthy older adults. Chronic daily intake of curcumin in middle-aged or older adults without dementia, in studies that lasted much longer––between 12 weeks and 18 months––had mixed results, some showing improved cognition over placebo, while others showed no better effects. When studies were compiled in a meta-analysis, there does appear to be a small cognitive benefit for curcumin supplementation in older adults without dementia. But what about in people who need it the most?

There had been two randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trials of curcumin in patients with Alzheimer’s disease, and they both failed to show cognitive benefits. Why didn’t researchers see the same dramatic results with curcumin supplements that were reported in the case reports of those given turmeric? Perhaps those cases were total flukes. On the other hand, perhaps turmeric, the whole food, may be greater than the sum of its parts. Curcumin is just one of hundreds of compounds found in turmeric. In response, some researchers have suggested creating a blend of components that “represents turmeric in its medicinal value better than curcumin alone.” But why concoct some artificial mixture when Mother Nature already packaged it all in turmeric? Because a common spice can’t be patented, and if you can’t patent it, how are you going to charge more than five cents? The most recent RCT of Alzheimer’s and curcumin showed a significant benefit over placebo of a patented curcumin extract, but the study was done by the supplement company that sells it. So, we would need to see independent verification before we can be sure.

Please consider volunteering to help out on the site.

Motion graphics by Avo Media

Doctor's Note

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