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Curcumin Powder & Neuropathy

Oct 25, 2010 | By Amber Bauer
Curcumin Powder & Neuropathy
Photo Credit Valueline/Valueline/Getty Images

More than 20 million Americans suffer from the stabbing, burning, shooting, electric pain of neuropathy, according to the Neuropathy Association. While some types of neuropathy can be cured, most people are unable to get rid of this progressive, debilitating condition. As a result, more and more people are turning to dietary supplements like curcumin powder in search of relief, even though there is no guarantee it will help. Consult your doctor before self-treating with curcumin.

Neuropathy

We normally feel pain when our nerve endings send messages from a wound, like a burn or a cut, to the brain. However, if the nerves themselves are injured in some way, they can continuously send faulty messages to the brain that are interpreted as chronic pain. While the pain you feel is real, it is often difficult for doctors to pinpoint exactly what is causing it. According to the Neuropathy Association, 30 percent of neuropathy is caused by diabetes, 30 percent is considered idiopathic or has no known case, and the remaining 40 percent can be linked to autoimmune diseases, cancer, genetics, infections, strokes or other injuries to the brain and spinal cord.

Curcumin

Curcumin is a yellow pigment found in the spice tumeric, a main ingredient of curry powder. Besides being used in Indian cooking and as a preservative, curcumin (tumeric) has been used in traditional Indian medicine for centuries to treat inflammatory diseases, as well as infections and other ailments.

Evidence: Inherited Neuropathies

Because of its antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties, curcumin's effects on neuropathy have been analyzed over the past two decades. A study published in the "American Journal of Human Genetics" in 2007 reported that curcumin reduced neuropathic pain in mouse models of inherited neuropathies. However, when curcumin was given to a 15-year-old girl with Déjérine-Sottas disease, a genetic peripheral neuropathy, the Australian researchers stated that there was "little improvement in objective outcome measures," although her quality of life did improve during the 12 months of treatment, according to a study published in 2009 in "Pediatric Neurology."

Evidence: Diabetic Neuropathy

The evidence is also mixed for curcumin's effectiveness in treating and preventing diabetic neuropathies. While researchers at Panjab University in India concluded that curcumin reduced insulin resistance and protected against the onset of diabetic neuropathy in lab rats, as reported in "Phytotherapy Research" in 2007, the study treatment involved administering daily insulin injections equal to about one-half to 1.5 vials of insulin in humans, which is significantly more than human diabetics take.

Limitations

Because the majority of studies have been conducted with cultured cells or animal models of neuropathic diseases, there is no definitive clinical evidence that shows curcumin will benefit human patients. It is also important to realize that it is very difficult for the body to absorb curcumin whole from the digestive tract, and curcumin may not have the same effects when it is broken down into smaller chemical components. Therefore, more research is needed before curcumin can be reliably recommended as a therapeutic option for neuropathy.

Important Considerations

If you still want to take curcumin powder supplements for your neuropathic pain, it is important to discuss the supplement with your doctor beforehand. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration generally recognizes tumeric as safe (GRAS) when used as a food additive, and no serious adverse events have been reported in people who have taken high doses of curcumin supplements. However, you should not take curcumin powder if you have a bile duct obstruction, gallstones, gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) or peptic ulcers, as curcumin can irritate the gastrointestinal tract. It is also important to note that curcumin can interact with other medications you may be taking, including warfarin and antiplatelet drugs.

References

Article reviewed by demand32474 Last updated on: Oct 25, 2010

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