A study published in BMC suggests that curcumin, a naturally occurring substance found in a common spice, might help ease osteoarthritis pain. In the study, researchers enrolled 139 people with symptoms of knee osteoarthritis. Their symptoms were at least moderately severe and required treatment with a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID). For one month, they were given the NSAID diclofenac (50 mg, twice daily) or curcumin (500 mg, three times daily). 

Here’s what this study found: Both treatments relieved arthritis symptoms and helped to a similar degree: 94% of those taking curcumin and 97% of those taking diclofenac reported at least 50% improvement.

People reported fewer side effects with curcumin. For example, none of the study subjects taking curcumin needed treatment for stomach trouble, but 28% of those taking diclofenac needed treatment.

Those taking curcumin lost, on average, nearly 2% of their body weight in just four weeks — that’s 3.5 pounds for a 175-pound person.

Source: https://health.harvard.edu/

Curcumin is known to possess potent antiinflammatory and antiarthritic properties. This pilot clinical study evaluated the safety and effectiveness of curcumin alone, and in combination with diclofenac sodium in patients with active rheumatoid arthritis (RA).

Forty-five patients diagnosed with RA were randomized into three groups with patients receiving curcumin (500 mg) and diclofenac sodium (50 mg) alone or their combination.

The primary endpoints were reduction in Disease Activity Score (DAS) 28. The secondary endpoints included American College of Rheumatology (ACR) criteria for reduction in tenderness and swelling of joint scores.

Patients in all three treatment groups showed statistically significant changes in their DAS scores. Interestingly, the curcumin group showed the highest percentage of improvement in overall DAS and ACR scores (ACR 20, 50 and 70) and these scores were significantly better than the patients in the diclofenac sodium group.

More importantly, curcumin treatment was found to be safe and did not relate with any adverse events. Our study provides the first evidence for the safety and superiority of curcumin treatment in patients with active RA, and highlights the need for future large-scale trials to validate these findings in patients with RA and other arthritic conditions.

Source: pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Another common medical condition that can be treated with curcumin is atherosclerosis, which is widely prevalent in the Western society. Although there are numerous explanations for this pattern of atherosclerotic disease, one of the factors that may play a role is the decreased consumption of natural plant-based products such as curcumin in the Western diet.

Curcumin has demonstrated some efficacy in treating hypercholesterolemia.

One small study found that daily administration of 500 mg of curcumin for one week led to a significant 33% decrease in lipid peroxides, a 29% increase in HDL cholesterol, and a 12% decrease in total body cholesterol. 

Another study also had consistent findings, demonstrating that only 10 mg of curcumin administered twice daily lowered serum LDL and increased HDL.29

Source: pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Oxidative stress has been implicated in many chronic diseases, and its pathological processes are closely related to those of inflammation, in that one can be easily induced by another.

In fact, it is known that inflammatory cells liberate a number of reactive species at the site of inflammation leading to oxidative stress, which demonstrates the relationship between oxidative stress and inflammation [28].

In addition, a number of reactive oxygen/nitrogen species can initiate an intracellular signaling cascade that enhances pro-inflammatory gene expression. Inflammation has been identified in the development of many chronic diseases and conditions [10,19,29,30]. These diseases include Alzheimer’s disease (AD), Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis, epilepsy, cerebral injury, cardiovascular disease, metabolic syndrome, cancer, allergy, asthma, bronchitis, colitis, arthritis, renal ischemia, psoriasis, diabetes, obesity, depression, fatigue, and acquired immune deficiency syndromeAIDS [10]. Tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α) is a major mediator of inflammation in most diseases, and this effect is regulated by the activation of a transcription factor, nuclear factor (NF)-κB. Whereas TNF-α is said to be the most potent NF-κB activator, the expression of TNF-α is also regulated by NF-κB. In addition to TNF-α, NF-κB is also activated by most inflammatory cytokines; gram-negative bacteria; various disease-causing viruses; environmental pollutants; chemical, physical, mechanical, and psychological stress; high glucose; fatty acids; ultraviolet radiation; cigarette smoke; and other disease-causing factors.

Therefore, agents that downregulate NF-κB and NF-κB–regulated gene products have potential efficacy against several of these diseases. Curcumin has been shown to block NF-κB activation increased by several different inflammatory stimuli [10]. 

Curcumin has also been shown to suppress inflammation through many different mechanisms beyond the scope of this review, thereby supporting its mechanism of action as a potential anti-inflammatory agent [10].

Source: pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Curcumin has shown some promise in treating depression. In a controlled trial, 60 people with depression were randomized into three groups (43Trusted Source).

One group took Prozac, another group took 1 gram of curcumin, and the third group took both Prozac and curcumin. After 6 weeks, curcumin had led to improvements similar to those of Prozac.

The group that took both Prozac and curcumin fared best (44Trusted Source). According to this small study, curcumin is as effective as an antidepressant.

Depression is also linked to reduced levels of BDNF and a shrinking hippocampus, a brain area with a role in learning and memory. 

Curcumin can help boost BDNF levels, potentially reversing some of these changes (45). There’s also some evidence that curcumin can boost the brain neurotransmitters serotonin and dopamine (46, 47).

Source: pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov