An extract found in the bright yellow curry spice turmeric can kill off cancer cells, scientists have shown.
The chemical - curcumin - has long been thought to have healing powers and is already being tested as a treatment for arthritis and even dementia.
Now tests by a team at the Cork Cancer Research Centre show it can destroy gullet cancer cells in the lab.
Cancer experts said the findings in the British Journal of Cancer could help doctors find new treatments.
Dr Sharon McKenna and her team found that curcumin started to kill cancer cells within 24 hours.
'Natural' remedy
The cells also began to digest themselves, after the curcumin triggered lethal cell death signals.
Dr McKenna said: "Scientists have known for a long time that natural compounds have the potential to treat faulty cells that have become cancerous and we suspected that curcumin might have therapeutic value."
Dr Lesley Walker, director of cancer information at Cancer Research UK, said: "This is interesting research which opens up the possibility that natural chemicals found in turmeric could be developed into new treatments for oesophageal cancer.
"Rates of oesophageal cancer have gone up by more than a half since the 70s and this is thought to be linked to rising rates of obesity, alcohol intake and reflux disease so finding ways to prevent this disease is important too."
Each year around 7,800 people are diagnosed with oesophageal cancer in the UK. It is the sixth most common cause of cancer death and accounts for around five percent of all UK cancer deaths.
Leaving aside the racist core, we can see the assertion likely does not stand up to close inspection.
The tuber containing turmeric was cultivated by tribals all over s. asia; and still is; long before those not of their hundreds of ethnic groups arrived. The more likely contrast in skin color is black and not the various other hues of s. asia, if anyone cares because it is irrelevant.
It is likely more attention is being given to the food extract Resveratrol then turmeric in the medical literature just now. It is considered quite a miricle substance for its very wide application in medicine as a potential for use. Those foods in which it is most found are grape skins; and thus in wine; and highest of all in cocoa.
Those foods originate in central asia and central america respectively. If it really matters to anyone the skin color of those areas can be assigned.
> Leaving aside the racist core, we can see the assertion likely does not > stand up to close inspection.
> The tuber containing turmeric was cultivated by tribals all over s. > asia; and still is; long before those not of their hundreds of ethnic > groups arrived. The more > likely contrast in skin color is black and not the various other hues > of s. asia, if anyone cares because it is irrelevant.
> It is likely more attention is being given to the food extract > Resveratrol then turmeric in the medical literature just now. It is > considered quite a miricle substance for its very wide application in > medicine as a potential for use. Those foods in which it is most found > are grape skins; and thus in wine; and highest of all in cocoa.
> Those foods originate in central asia and central america respectively. > If it really matters to anyone the skin color of those areas can be > assigned.
Don't be narrow minded. And be patience. Can't wait to see whether "cow water" which is to be marketed soon can cure ailments ranging from liver disease to obesity and even cancer as suggested by its promoters.
"The bovine brew is in the final stages of development by the Cow Protection Department of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), India's biggest and oldest Hindu nationalist group, according to the man who makes it.
Om Prakash, the head of the department, said the drink – called "gau jal", or "cow water" – in Sanskrit was undergoing laboratory tests and would be launched "very soon, maybe by the end of this year"."
All this information about Curcumin in turmeric being so effective against cancer is in tereesting but in practice it is unworkable. The suggested effetive in vivo dose of Curcumin is about 500 mg (at least twice a day). To get that much Curcumin in your body one will have to consume about 200 -250 gm of turmeric powder. So just watch what hapens to the color of your skin with that much turmeric. Eating curry with turmeric is no answer to treat cancer. Please note that Asian countries, in particular China, India, Pakistan, and Japan, have the highest rates of esophageal cancer in the world. All these places where turmeric is consumed with curries of all kinds. ..............BND
> An extract found in the bright yellow curry spice turmeric can kill off > cancer cells, scientists have shown.
> The chemical - curcumin - has long been thought to have healing powers and > is already being tested as a treatment for arthritis and even dementia.
> Now tests by a team at the Cork Cancer Research Centre show it can destroy > gullet cancer cells in the lab.
> Cancer experts said the findings in the British Journal of Cancer could > help doctors find new treatments.
> Dr Sharon McKenna and her team found that curcumin started to kill cancer > cells within 24 hours.
> 'Natural' remedy
> The cells also began to digest themselves, after the curcumin triggered > lethal cell death signals.
> Dr McKenna said: "Scientists have known for a long time that natural > compounds have the potential to treat faulty cells that have become > cancerous and we suspected that curcumin might have therapeutic value."
> Dr Lesley Walker, director of cancer information at Cancer Research UK, > said: "This is interesting research which opens up the possibility that > natural chemicals found in turmeric could be developed into new treatments > for oesophageal cancer.
> "Rates of oesophageal cancer have gone up by more than a half since the > 70s and this is thought to be linked to rising rates of obesity, alcohol > intake and reflux disease so finding ways to prevent this disease is > important too."
> Each year around 7,800 people are diagnosed with oesophageal cancer in the > UK. It is the sixth most common cause of cancer death and accounts for > around five percent of all UK cancer deaths.
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