Can eating foods rich in curry spice, and fish and plant oils preserve walking ability following spinal cord injury and boost innate immune response to fight infection and chronic disease' CHUKWUMA MUANYA writes.THE lame can walk again! But not without some help from curry spice and fish oil replete with Omega 3 fatty acid.Researchers have discovered how a diet enriched with a popular omega-3 fatty acid such as fish oil and an ingredient in curry spice, curcumin, preserved walking ability in rats with spinal-cord injury and boosted innate immune response to fight infection and chronic disease.Omega 3 fatty acids are fats commonly found in marine and plant oils. Common sources of n'3 fatty acids include fish oils, algal oil, squid oil, and some plant oils such as echium oil and flaxseed oil.Curcumin the main component in the spice turmeric used in curry. Curcumin has been consumed daily in Asian countries for centuries without reported toxic effects.Turmeric is a spice that comes from the root of Curcuma longa, a member of the ginger family, Zingaberaceae. In traditional medicine, turmeric has been used for its medicinal properties for various indications and through different routes of administration, including topically, orally, and by inhalation.In Nigeria, it is called atale pupa in Yoruba; gangamau in Hausa; nwandumo in Ebonyi; ohu boboch in Enugu (Nkanu East); gigir in Tiv; magina in Kaduna; turi in Niger State; onjonigho in Cross River (Meo tribe).Turmeric, also known as curcuma, produces a root that is used to produce the vibrant yellow spice used as a culinary spice so often used in curry dishes.Until now, curcumin has been effectively used in pain, wounds, diabetes and heart disease. But recent United States study found that eating turmeric flavoured meals could be the best way to shedding excess kilos.The recent findings published June 26 in the Journal of Neurosurgery: Spine suggest that these dietary supplements help repair nerve cells and maintain neurological function after degenerative damage to the neck.The researchers from the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA), United States, studied two groups of rats with a condition that simulated cervical myelopathy - a progressive disorder that often occurs in people with spine-weakening conditions like rheumatoid arthritis and osteoporosis.Previous studies have shown that cervical myelopathy can lead to disabling neurological symptoms, such as difficulty walking, neck and arm pain, hand numbness and weakness of the limbs and is the most common cause of spine-related walking problems in people over 55.According to the UCLA research team, the first group of animals was fed rat chow that replicated a Western diet high in saturated fats and sugar. The second group consumed a standard diet supplemented with docosahexaenoic acid, or DHA, and curcumin. A third set of rats received a standard rat diet and served as a control group.Why these supplements' DHA is an omega-3 fatty acid shown to repair damage to cell membranes. Curcumin is a strong antioxidant that previous studies have linked to tissue repair. Both reduce inflammation.The researchers recorded a baseline of the rats walking and re-examined the animals' gait on a weekly basis. As early as three weeks, the rats eating the Western diet demonstrated measurable walking problems that worsened as the study progressed. Rats fed a diet enriched with DHA and curcumin walked significantly better than the first group even six weeks after the study's start.Next, the scientists examined the rats' spinal cords to evaluate how diet affected their injury on a molecular level. The researchers measured levels of three markers respectively linked to cell-membrane damage, neural repair and cellular communication.The rats that ate the Western diet showed higher levels of the marker linked to cell-membrane damage. In contrast, the DHA and curcumin appeared to offset the injury's effect in the second group, which displayed equivalent marker levels to the control group.Levels of the markers linked to neural repair and cellular communication were significantly lower in the rats raised on the Western diet. Again, levels in the animals fed the supplemented diet appeared similar to those of the control group.Also, a research team from Oregon State University, United States, has released the result of a study in the Journal of Nutritional Biochemistry that demonstrates how curcumin exerts a measurable increase in levels of a protein that is known to be important in the innate immune system, helping to prevent infection in humans and other animals.Scientists found that curcumin activated the cathelicidin antimicrobial peptide, or CAMP, a critical component of the immune system that identifies previously unknown bacteria, allowing for rapid identification and removal of the invader.According to the researchers, any natural compound that can influence or raise CAMP levels is of significance to human health, as it helps boost immunity and provides a barrier against a host of chronic conditions and pathogenic invaders.In recent years, vitamin D has been studied extensively and has been found to be a potent stimulator of CAMP activity. New research has found that curcumin and vitamin D work synergistically to fight infection and systemic inflammation as they both exhibit disease-fighting anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties.Earlier study published in Clinical Cancer Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research found that Omega-3 fatty acids appear protective against advanced prostate cancer, and this effect may be modified by a genetic variant in the COX-2 gene.According to a pilot study using human saliva by researchers at UCLA's Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Centre, curcumin suppresses a cell-signaling pathway that drives the growth of head and neck cancer.Another study published in Clinical Cancer Research found that the curcumin binds to and prevents an enzyme known as IKK, an inhibitor of kappa ' kinase, from activating a transcription factor called nuclear factor kappa ' (NF''), which promotes cancer growth.Principal investigator and associate professor of neurosurgery at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Dr. Langston Holly, explained, 'normal aging often narrows the spinal canal, putting pressure on the spinal cord and injuring tissue. While surgery can relieve the pressure and prevent further injury, it can't repair damage to the cells and nerve fibers. We wanted to explore whether dietary supplementation could help the spinal cord heal itself.'Coauthor and professor of neurosurgery, Fernando Gomez-Pinilla said, 'the brain and spinal cord work together and years of research demonstrate that supplements like DHA and curcumin can positively influence the brain. We suspected that what works in the brain may also work in the spinal cord. When we were unable to find good data to support our hypothesis, we decided to study it ourselves.'DHA and curcumin appear to invoke several molecular mechanisms that preserved neurological function in the rats. This is an exciting first step toward understanding the role that diet plays in protecting the body from degenerative disease.'Holly said, 'our findings suggest that diet can help minimise disease-related changes and repair damage to the spinal cord. We next want to look at other mechanisms involved in the cascade of events leading up to chronic spinal-cord injury. Our goal is to identify which stages will respond best to medical intervention and identify effective steps for slowing the disease process.
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