A common curry ingredient may help to cure dementia

Turmeric could hold the key to new dementia treatment, according to a study which found that a key ingredient to a spicy diet can protect against the degenerative brain disease.
Oil isolated from the spice can have hugely positive effects on brain neuron count by stimulating the growth of stem cells into neurons.
Neurons are the cells used in the brain to process and transmit information. Diseases like Alzheimers disease or strokes can be caused by the degeneration of these cells.
Dr Adele Rueger, from the Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine in Germany, said, “While several substances promote stem cell proliferation in the brain, fewer drugs additionally promote the differentiation of stem cells into neurons, which constitutes a major goal in regenerative medicine. Our findings take us one step closer to achieving this goal.”
Experimenting on rats, researchers are reported to have been able to stimulate the growth of brain cells by 80 per cent by using aromatic turmerone – a compound found in turmeric. A different process involving injections of the oil extract have also shown positive results for re-growth.
Although this is a promising find and could pave the way for the development of effective treatments, there is no proof yet whether it will have the same effect on humans.
Furthermore, despite headlines announcing that eating spicy food can help beat dementia, there is no evidence as to whether eating spicy food with turmeric in will have any benefits on rats, let alone humans.