Jonathan Benson ~ If you or a loved one suffers from Alzheimer’s Disease or some other form of dementia, there is hope and healing to be found in turmeric. Based on the recent findings of three independent case studies, turmeric, whose primary active ingredient is curcumin, has the power not only to heal both the behavior and psychological symptoms associated with dementia, but also help lead to full recovery of the disease in as little as just a few months.
A traditional cooking spice that has been used copiously throughout India and Southeast Asia for many millennia, turmeric has been the subject of myriad scientific studies in recent years. The circulatory, digestive, and neurological systems of the body, it turns out, are all positively impacted by turmeric, and the seemingly never-ending list of diseases for which the spice is known to provide healing is continually expanding all the time.
This is definitely the case with regards to turmeric’s impact on cognitive health, as evidenced by new research out of Japan. The chief physician at Kariya Toyota General Hospital in Kariya City and his colleagues evaluated three separate case studies involving turmeric and came to some fascinating conclusions about the herb’s therapeutic value. In each case, turmeric was shown to both relieve dementia symptoms and improve overall cognitive function.
“In a study involving three patients with Alzheimer’s Disease, whose cognitive decline and Behavioral and Psychological Symptoms of Dementia were severe, exhibiting irritability, agitation, anxiety, and apathy, supplementation with turmeric powder capsules for over one year was found to be associated with improvement in symptoms,” wrote the authors of the study in their summary.
“Total score on the Neuro-Psychiatric Inventory-brief questionnaire decreased significantly in both acuity of symptoms and burden of caregivers after 12 weeks of treatment,” they added. “Score on the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) went up five points (from 12/30 to 17/30) in one of the cases, and the other two cases were able to recognize their family within one year of treatment.”