Curcumin Benefits

Curcumin... the powder gold from my perspective and the main herb behind my research and product development. A wonderful and powerful herb indeed. Life Extension magazine just recently released an article regarding the anti-inflammatory properties of curcumin for tackling the inflammation behind arthritis. It was cited how curcumin beat out most common pain medications in combating pain associated with arthritis. So, why is curcumin so remarkable on so many aspects? Well, the inflammatory cascade is very complex and complicated. Traditional therapeutic medications commonly only address a single target or event in the inflammatory cascade, which often leaves much to be desired in terms of results as well as often triggers side effects. Herbs, such as curcumin, often address multiple targets in the inflammatory cascade, often producing much better and more complete results. While various pharmaceutical medications often inhibit their targets close to 100%, herbs such as curcumin do not, but instead often modulate their targets by reducing their action back to a more normal level. By doing this, we are often able to obtain results clinically but without the side effects. All to often, if you listen to the TV commercials closely, you will notice the fine print side effects associated with some prescription medications. The reason behind many of these side effects is due to the level of inhibition on certain pathways that they impose. Curcumin does not appear to be this way, based on research, and instead modulates many pathways, instead of just one, in order to obtain results. The potential impact of curcumin on overall health is incredible, but the exact capabilities are beyond this blog. Let's just say that through curcumin's ability to reduce inflammation, there are clinical applications in the symptomatic control of conditions ranging from asthma to arthritis to cancer. Given that in today's research, the link with inflammation is being made to many diseases, the capabilities and potential for curcumin is endless. As a veterinarian, I have prescription medications at my disposal and use them often. They are wonderful tools to have for our patients, but all to often, we are left with a void or gap in the treatment of certain conditions. I feel that diseases of chronicity are all too often not addressed appropriately and more often than not, we are left with prescribing multiple medications for those patients just to keep them comfortable but not necessarily improving their quality of life. Herbs, like curcumin, to me are potential life savers when used properly. They not only potentially allow us to reduce the demand for various prescription medications, but overall, they improve the quality of life more dramatically for the patient and that is what is important. Again, just food for thought and my opinions. Tom Schell, D.V.M.