Herbal Turmeric's Curcumin, Protects the Blood Vessels Against the Onset of Stroke, in Vivo

By Kyle J. Norton

A stroke is a medical condition caused by poor blood flow to the brain, leading to the death of the neurons.

Besides cancer and heart diseases, stroke is the third leading cause of death in the US. According to the statistics, approximate 1/4 of all stroke victims die as a direct result of the stroke or its complications.

The causes of stroke are either associated with plaque build-up on the arteries, leading to reduce blood flow to the brain, depending on the location of an obstruction or the breaking of small blood vessels in the brain.

In other words, strokes can be classified into 2 types
* Ischemic stroke caused by a clot or other blockage within an artery which leads to the brain.
* Hemorrhagic stroke caused by the vessel in the brain rupturing that results in blood leaking into the brain.

Stroke is caused by a number of factors. Epidemiological studies suggested high blood pressure, medical conditions such as diabetes, heart disease, smoking, age, gender ethnicity and personal or family history of stroke are some of the prevalent risk factors.

Some researchers in the examination of the rise of stroke in North American suggested that stroke may be associated with the promotion of the Western diet over the past few decades.

The American Heart Association wrote, "Western" diets consisting of red and processed meats, refined grains, sweets, and desserts may be associated with a greater risk of stroke, according to a study published in this week's rapid access issue of Stroke: Journal of the American Heart Association".

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 for the treatment of flatulence, bloating, and appetite loss, ulcers, eczema, inflammations, etc.

On finding a natural compound for the treatment of stroke prevention scientists evaluated the protective effects of curcumin, the best-known member and is mainly extracted from turmeric preventive effect on stroke.

The study included stroke-prone spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHRsp) randomly divided into either a control group (n = 10, saline or curcumin (100 mg/kg/day)) or curcumin group (n = 10) administrated daily.

According to the tested assays, administration of curcumin significantly delayed the onset of stroke and increased the survival of SHRsp by decreasing the expression of ROS and improving endothelial-dependent relaxation of carotid arteries.

However, according to the RT-PCR and immunoblotting, curcumin showed no statistical significance in the presence of UCP2 inhibitor genipin by blocking the decrease of ROS and increase of NO production.

Where genipin is a chemical compound found in gardenia fruit extract.

In other words, in order for curcumin to exert its stroke preventive activity, curcumin cannot be consumed together with gardenia fruit.

Additionally, in the study to examine the curcumin effect during the stroke, researchers found that curcumin encapsulated in exosomes, nano-vesicles (<200 nm), shows therapeutic effects in brain diseases, such as stroke.

Taken altogether, turmeric processed a high amount of bioactive compound curcumin may be considered supplements for the prevention of stroke, 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) Curcumin prevents strokes in stroke-prone spontaneously hypertensive rats by improving vascular endothelial function by Lan C1,2, Chen X1,2,3, Zhang Y1,2, Wang W1,2, Wang WE1,2, Liu Y1,2, Cai Y1,2,4, Ren H1,2, Zheng S1,2, Zhou L5,6, Zeng C. (PubMed)
(2) Epigenetic impact of curcumin on stroke prevention by Kalani A1, Kamat PK, Kalani K, Tyagi N. (PubMed)
(3) Western' Diets May Be Linked To Greater Stroke Ris by the American Heart Association. (Science Daily)