Oct 28, 2008 5:51 pm US/Eastern
Spice In Indian Food May Help Fight Cancer
BALTIMORE (WJZ) ―
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Could a spice commonly used in Indian food someday be a powerful cancer fighter?
CBS
Could a spice commonly used in Indian food someday be a powerful cancer fighter?
Healthwatch reporter Kellye Lynn talked to a researcher at Johns Hopkins who says curcumin could slow the spread of cancer.
Scientists in Baltimore are moving curcumin from the pot to the patient.
"You can see here, this is the tumeric that's inside these capsules," said Dr. Anirban Maitra.
Where there is tumeric, there is curcumin.
"Curcumin is the active chemical compound that's present in tumeric, gives it the yellow color that you see," Maitra said.
Sold in pill form, powder or as a drink, the spice has long been used in Asian medicine to treat a variety of ailments from heartburn to arthritis.
"Curcumin has been shown to have a remarkable effect in terms of decreasing tumor growth or benefitting Alzheimer's in mouse models or reducing inflammation," Maitra said.
But the spice has one major limitation: it's not easily absorbed in the bloodstream.
"The whole curcumin just plunges to the bottom. It's insoluble and that's one big reason why it doesn't get absorbed," he said.
That's why Dr. Maitra at the Institute of Nanobiotechnology and his colleagues have created a different form: water soluble particles a thousand times smaller than the tip of a pen, known as nano-curcumin.
"If we envision making a capsule that you could pop a pill every day, that's what would be inside the capsule," he said.
Dr. Maitra says the powder can be absorbed into the bloodstream much easier than standard curcumin. It's a development that could lead to a simple injection for cancer patients or a daily pill to prevent the disease.
Nano-curcumin could eventually be effective in the treatment and prevention of pancreatic cancer and multiple myeloma, as well as diseases like Alzheimer's and cystic fibrosis.
In two years, research on humans should begin and, if successful, the treatment could be on the market in just five years.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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