Herbal Turmeric Inhibits Parameters Associated with β-thalassemia

By Kyle J. Norton

Anemia is a health condition in which our body do not have enough red blood cells or less than the normal quantity of hemoglobin in the blood that carries the function of delivering oxygen and nutrient to the tissues.

Patients with Beta- thalassemia minor have a slight lowering of the beta hemoglobin level in the blood similar to those with mild iron-deficiency anemia.

 Beta thalassemia can be classified into 

* Thalassemia minor, the mild case of anemia. is the most common anemia in people of Mediterranean descent. The blood cells of patients with thalassemia minor are smaller than normal blood cells and easily die off, causing not enough new blood cells to replace the loss of red blood cells.

* Thalassemia major
Thalassemia major also called Cooley's anemia is an inherited disorder that affects the production of normal hemoglobin. Thalassemia major is a deadly disease without frequent blood transfusions, people with this kind of anemia may not survive because of iron building up in heart and other organs, resulting in heart failure.

Most common symptoms of beta thalassemia are fatigue, weakness, or shortness of breath, a pale appearance or yellow color to the skin (jaundice), irritability, deformities of the facial bone, slow growth, a swollen abdomen, and dark urine.

If you have experienced persistently the aforementioned symptoms, please make sure that you check with your doctor for preventive measure.

Turmeric is a perennial plant in the genus Curcuma, belonging to the family Zingiberaceae, native to tropical South Asia.

The herb has been used in traditional medicine as anti-oxidant, hypoglycemic, colorant, antiseptic, wound healing agent, and to treat flatulence, bloating, and appetite loss, ulcers, eczema, inflammations, etc.

On finding a natural treatment of anemia, researchers examined the effects of curcumin, the active polyphenol in turmeric, on iron overload, hepcidin level, and liver function in β-thalassemia major patients.

The double-blind randomized controlled clinical trial was conducted on 68 β-thalassemia major patients, randomly divided into 2 groups to receive either 500 mg curcumin capsules (total: 1,000 mg) twice daily or placebo for 12 weeks.

Based on the observation of the tested assays, curcumin group showed a significant decrease in levels of nontransferrin bound iron (NTBI), aminotransferase (ALT) and Aspartate aminotransferase (AST) compared to the placebo group. 

In other words, turmeric protects the integrity of the red blood by reducing the cellular oxidative stress and inhibiting the iron toxicity in the β-thalassemia major patients without affecting the levels of hepcidin and other variables.

Based on the results, researchers wrote, " Curcumin administration alleviated the iron burden and liver dysfunction by reducing NTBI, ALT, and AST levels in patients with β-thalassemia major".

Additionally, according to the evaluation of the Mahidol University on 10 β-thalassemia/Hb E patients treated with 500 mg curcuminoids daily for 12 months, injection of the supplement showed significantly decreased intensity in thalassemic plasma, compared to those of normal subjects, including increased levels of plasma levels of proteins associated with the condition and reduced levels of oxidative damage.

More precisely, serum non-transferrin bound iron associated with iron overload, platelet factor-3 like activity, oxidative stress parameters and antioxidant enzymes were also improved after curcuminoids treatment.

Taken altogether, turmeric processed abundantly bioactive compound curcumin may be considered supplements for the prevention and treatment of β-thalassemia, pending to the confirmation of the larger sample size and multicenter human study.

Intake of turmeric in the form of supplement should be taken with extreme care to prevent overdose acute liver toxicity.

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Author Biography
Kyle J. Norton (Scholar, Master of Nutrition, All right reserved)
Health article writer and researcher; Over 10.000 articles and research papers have been written and published online, including worldwide health, ezine articles, article base, health blogs, self-growth, best before it's news, the karate GB daily, etc.,.
Named TOP 50 MEDICAL ESSAYS FOR ARTISTS & AUTHORS TO READ by Disilgold.com Named 50 of the best health Tweeters Canada - Huffington Post
Nominated for shorty award over last 4 years
Some articles have been used as references in medical research, such as international journal Pharma and Bioscience, ISSN 0975-6299.

Sources
(1) An investigation of the effects of curcumin on iron overload, hepcidin level, and liver function in β-thalassemia major patients: A double-blind randomized controlled clinical trial by Mohammadi E1, Tamaddoni A2, Qujeq D3, Nasseri E4, Zayeri F5, Zand H6, Gholami M7, Mir SM. (PubMed)
(2) Role of curcuminoids in ameliorating oxidative modification in β-thalassemia/Hb E plasma proteome by Weeraphan C1, Srisomsap C, Chokchaichamnankit D, Subhasitanont P, Hatairaktham S, Charoensakdi R, Panichkul N, Siritanaratkul N, Fucharoen S, Svasti J, Kalpravidh RW. (PubMed)