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Thursday, April 4, 2013

Tumeric-Derived Compound Curcumin May Treat Alzheimer’s


Tumeric-Derived Compound Curcumin May Treat Alzheimer’s
Curry chemical shows promise for treating the memory-robbing disease By Lauren K. Wolf
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Tumeric-Derived Compound C*Muorcsut 
Department: Science & Technology
News Channels: Biological SCENE
Keywords: alternative medicine, dietary supplements, curcumin, tumeric, Alzheimer’s disease
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More than 5 million people in the U.S. currently live with Alzheimer’s disease. And according to the Alzheimer’s Association, the situation is only going to get worse.

By 2050, the nonprofit estimates, up to 16 million Americans will have the memory-robbing disease. It will cost the U.S. $1.1 trillion annually to care for them unless a successful therapy is found.

Pharmaceutical companies have invested heavily in developing Alzheimer’s drugs, many of which target amyloid-β, a peptide that misfolds and clumps in the brains of patients. 

But so far, no amyloid-β-targeted medications have been successful. Expectation for the most advanced drugs—bapineuzumab from Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson and solanezumab from Eli Lilly & Co.—are low on the basis of lackluster data from midstage clinical trials. That sentiment was reinforced last week when bapineuzumab was reported to have failed the first of four Phase III studies.

CURRY WONDER
Curcumin, derived from the rootstalk of the turmeric plant, not only gives Indian dishes their color but might treat Alzheimer’s.
Credit: Shutterstock
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Even if these late-stage hopefuls do somehow work, they won’t come cheap, says Gregory M. Cole, a neuroscientist at the University of California, Los Angeles. These drugs “would cost patients tens of thousands of dollars per year,” he estimates. That hefty price tag stems from bapineuzumab and solanezumab being costly-to-manufacture monoclonal antibodies against amyloid-β.
“There’s a great need for inexpensive Alzheimer’s treatments,” as well as a backup plan if pharma fails, says Larry W. Baum, a professor in the School of Pharmacy at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. As a result, he says, a great many researchers have turned their attention to less pricy alternatives, such as compounds from plants and other natural sources.