Curcumin improves ulcerative proctitis and Crohn's disease in patient s with inflammatory bowel disease. - GreenMedInfo Summary
Curcumin therapy in inflammatory bowel disease: a pilot study.
Dig Dis Sci. 2005 Nov;50(11):2191-3. PMID: 16240238
St. Luke's Roosevelt Hospital Center, Columbia University and Strang Cancer Center Research Laboratory, New York, New York, USA. [email protected]
Curcumin, a natural compound used as a food additive, has been shown to have anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties in cell culture and animal studies. A pure curcumin preparation was administered in an open label study to five patients with ulcerative proctitis and five with Crohn's disease. All proctitis patients improved, with reductions in concomitant medications in four, and four of five Crohn's disease patients had lowered CDAI scores and sedimentation rates. This encouraging pilot study suggests the need for double-blind placebo-controlled follow-up studies.