Drug derived from curcumin may help treat stroke

March, 2011

More evidence for the value of the curry spice curcumin comes from animal studies indicating a curcumin-derived drug may help treat stroke.

A new molecular compound derived from curcumin (found in turmeric) holds promise for treating brain damage caused by stroke. Turmeric has a long history of use in Ayurvedic and Chinese traditional medicine. However, curcumin has several important drawbacks as far as treating stroke is concerned — mainly because it can’t cross the blood-brain barrier. The new compound can.

In rabbit experiments, the drug was effective when administered up to an hour after stroke, which correlates with about three hours in humans. This is the same time frame for which tPA — the only drug currently approved for ischemic stroke — is currently approved.

The new drug is expected to move to human clinical trials soon.

Reference: 

Paul A. Lapchak presented these findings at the American Heart Association International Stroke Conference in Los Angeles on February. 9.

Related News

In the past few months, several studies have come out showing the value of three different tests of people's sense of smell for improving the accuracy of

A study comparing the language abilities of 22 healthy young individuals, 24 healthy older individuals and 22 people with

Following on from a previous study showing that such a virtual supermarket game administered by a trained professional can detect

Data from the Women's Health Initiative Memory Study, involving 6,467 postmenopausal women (65+) who reported some level of caffeine consumption, has found that those who consumed above average amounts of coffee had a lower risk of developing dementia.

Our bodies’ ability to regulate its temperature gets worse with age, along with a slowing metabolism. We also become more vulnerable to Alzheimer's as we age. A study compared mice genetically engineered to manifest Alzheimer's symptoms as they age with normal mice.

People with Alzheimer's disease develop problems in recognizing familiar faces. It has been thought that this is just part of their general impairment, but a new study indicates that a specific, face-related impairment develops early in the disease.

Data from 876 patients (average age 78) in the 30-year Cardiovascular Health Study show that virtually any type of aerobic physical activity can improve brain volume and reduce Alzheimer's risk.

A study involving 100 older adults (aged 80-99) with hearing loss has found that those who used a hearing aid performed significantly better on a cognitive test (MMSE) than those who didn't use a hearing aid, despite having poorer hearing.

A study involving 65 older adults (average age 66), of whom 35 had type 2 diabetes, has found that after two years, those with diabetes had decreases in their ability to regulate blood flow in the brain, and a reduced ability to regulate blood flow was associated with lower cognitive scores.

A small study that fitted 29 young adults (18-31) and 31 older adults (55-82) with a device that recorded steps taken and the vigor and speed with which they were made, has found that those older adults with a higher step rate performed better on memory tasks than those who were more sedentary.

Pages

Subscribe to Latest newsSubscribe to Latest newsSubscribe to Latest health newsSubscribe to Latest news
Error | About memory

Error

The website encountered an unexpected error. Please try again later.