Turmeric Protects the Brain Cells Against Memory Deficit

By Kyle J. Norton

Memory impairment is a condition associated with a slow decline in memory, thinking and reasoning skills. Over time, the condition can worsen enough to affect the quality of life and daily activity.

Memory loss frequently is an early sign of memory deficit. Many factors can cause memory change. However, memory impairment in the elderly in most cases is associated with a gradual loss and death of neurons such as Alzheimer's disease.

Some memory change can be resolved on their own or cured by medical treatment if the underlining cause is found. However, loss or gradual loss of neurons capacity cannot be revered such as dementia.

According to statistics, in the US, approximately 5.7 million people are living with dementia. Most common form of dementia is Alzheimer's disease, affecting 5.5 million people of all ages.

Most common risk factor associated with memory deficit is increasing age, smoking the genetic preposition of APOE-e4, also linked to Alzheimer's disease, obesity and medical conditions such as diabetes, high blood pressure and depression, and physical inactivity.

Out of many risk factors, aging may be one of the major culprits that cause memory deficit in large numbers of older adults, leading to irreversible memory impairment such as AD and PD.

Dr. Gary W Small, said, "Memory changes cause concern to many patients as they grow older.". However, there are some factors that can decrease the progression of the condition, including stress reduction, physical and mental activity, healthy diet and lifestyle choice.

Turmeric is a perennial plant in the genus Curcuma, belongings 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 findings a potential compound which processes anti-neuro-degeneration, researchers examined the effects of curcumin on the early stage amnesia of AD-related to memory retrieval deficit.

Selected Male NMRI mice (20-25 g body weight) included in the study were treated with 50 or 100 mg/kg/po curcumin or its vehicle for 10 days. During the experiment, the animals were trained in passive avoidance apparatus ar day 10 and  30 min. before the retention test that performs after 24 hours of curcumin or its vehicle application, scopolamine (1 mg/kg/i.p.) or its vehicle was administrated.

According to the tested analysis, curcumin treatment at 50 and 100 mg/kg doses not only inhibited the activity of scopolamine in the induction of memory retrieval deficit but also restored Akt and GSK dephosphorylation associated with neuroprotection against scopolamine.

In other words, curcumin at the tested concentration effective protect the Akt and GSK pathways which play are a critical role in enhancing cell survival by stimulating cell proliferation and inhibiting apoptosis caused by scopolamine in the brain.

After taking others into account, Dr. Lv KJ, wrote in the final report, "pre-test scopolamine administration disrupts memory retrieval along with with with with the diminished Akt and GSK-3β phosphorylation in the hippocampus while curcumin administration prevented those changes."

Taken altogether, turmeric processed abundantly bioactive compound curcumin may be considered supplements for the prevention and treatment of memory retrieval deficit, 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) Turmeric (Curcuma longa L.) extract may prevent the deterioration of spatial memory and the deficit of estimated total number of hippocampal pyramidal cells of trimethyltin-exposed rats by Yuliani S1, Mustofa2, Partadiredja G. (PubMed)
(2) Curcumin ameliorates scopolamine-induced mice memory retrieval deficit and restores hippocampal p-Akt and p-GSK-3β by SoukhakLari R1, Moezi L2, Pirsalami F3, Ashjazadeh N4, Moosavi M. (PubMed)
(3) What we need to know about age related memory loss by Gary W Small, Parlow-Solomon professor on aging. (PMC)