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Next time you are in a restaurant, consider ordering a curry. Eating curry regularly could save your life. Why? Because one of the ingredients of the humble curry is Turmeric. The golden coloured spice which belongs to the Ginger family, Turmeric comes from a plant called the 'Curcuma Longa' and contains a substance called Curcumin. Curcumin has been studied for the treatment of a number of diseases and disorders including Cancer, Hypertrophy, Skin Problems, Liver Disorders, Alzheimer's Disease, Stroke, Cystic Fibrosis, Aches, Pains, Pulmonary problems and many more. Curcumin has powerful anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant properties and has been used in traditional Indian (Ayruvedic) and Chinese medicine for over three thousands years.

There have been many claims made about the healing properties of Curcumin and there appears to be a fairly healthy scientific rationale behind this thinking. Curcumin is a COX-2 inhibitor and the future of pain relief is thought to rely on COX-2 inhibition. COX-2 is an enzyme responsible for inflammation and pain in the body, therefore inhibition of COX-2 reduces inflammation and pain. Medicines known as Non Steroidal Anti Inflammatory Drugs (NSAIDS) work on this principal. An example of an NSAID is Ibuprofen.

Modern medicine is now looking to inflammation as the major theme underlying most major disease processes. As in headaches, it's the body's reaction to inflammation that maybe the cause of disorder and dysfunction.

Peter Liu at the Canadian Institutes of Health Research in Canada along with other researchers studied the effects of Curcumin using a rat model of cardiac hypertrophy (Enlarged Heart). The study involved aortic banding which caused pressure to the hearts of the rats which resulted in hypertrophy (Enlarged Heart) and eventual death. Curcumin was given in an oral dose to the rats for a period of six weeks, this was after two weeks of aortic banding. The results showed a reversal of cardiac remodelling (Remodelling is an alteration in the structure or shape of the heart).  Measures of contractile dysfunction also returned close to normal levels. The rats did not develop heart failure.

In conclusion, it is believed that Curcumin could stop the development of hypertrophy (Enlarged Heart) and even reverse it in mice. Curcumin was also found to produce a reduction in scar formation and improve heart function.

Scientists at the Cedars-Sinai Medical Centre in Los Angeles, United States are asking this amazing question: Can Curcumin repair some of the brain damage caused by stroke if treated immediately?

The reason for this somewhat surprising question is the results gleaned from recent experiments involving rabbits. Curcumin has difficulty passing the blood brain barrier and the drug used in the study was a derivative of Curcumin designed to overcome this problem.

The animal studies showed that the medication could reach the brain cells of the rabbits and reduced muscle and movement problems for up to three hours after administration. The results have excited researchers and they are now contemplating human trials.

The findings from the study were described as the "first significant research" by The Stroke Association and they believe that the medication could in future be a treatment for stroke patients.

Other studies using animal models include the research conducted at the Medical College of Georgia in the United States. In the study Jay McCracken and colleagues were able to reduced the size of blood clots in mice which as a result would lessen the chances of hemorrhagic stroke. An hemorrhagic stroke is a type of stroke caused by the rupturing of blood vessels which then leak into the brain.