Curry May Protect Against Alzheimer's: Report

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Regular consumption of curry may help protect against Alzheimer's disease, a U.S. researcher told the annual meeting of the Royal College of Psychiatrists in Britain.

Studies suggest that curcumin, a component of the spice tumeric, appears to prevent the spread of dementia-associated amyloid protein plaques in the brain, said Professor Murali Doraiswamy of Duke University, BBC News reported.

There's evidence that people who consume curry two or three times a week are less likely to develop dementia, said Doraiswamy, who added that researchers are examining the effects of higher doses of curry.

"There is very solid evidence that curcumin binds to plaques, and basic research on animals engineered to produce human amyloid plaques has shown benefits," the Duke University professor told the meeting, BBC News reported.

"The next step is to test curcumin on human amyloid plaque formation using newer brain scans and there are plans for that." said Doraiswamy. A clinical trial is underway at the University of California, Los Angeles, to test curcumin's effects in Alzheimer's patients, he said.