I just found this at
www.turmeric-curcumin.com$1M Grant to Expand IBD Study UA Steele Center researchers are investigating how curcumin – the biologically active ingredient in turmeric, used in curry – aids in treating Inflammatory Bowel Disease.
By Darci Slaten, Arizona Health Sciences Center, August 27, 2010
The Steele Children's Research Center at the University of Arizona College of Medicine has received a $1 million, four-year continuation grant from the National Institutes of Health to advance its research into the efficacy of curcumin in the treatment of Inflammatory Bowel Disease, or IBD.
IBD refers to two inflammatory diseases: Crohn's Disease, which affects the entire gastrointestinal tract, and ulcerative colitis, which affects the colon. Both cause severe abdominal pain, diarrhea, vomiting, fatigue and weight loss.
Curcumin is the biologically active ingredient in turmeric – the key ingredient in curry – which has been used in India for thousands of years to treat colds, inflammation, arthritis and many other ailments.
For several years, Steele Center researchers have been investigating how curcumin aids in treating IBD. Principal investigator Pawel Kiela, a research associate professor, and co-investigator Dr. Fayez K. Ghishan, a pediatric gastroenterologist, Steele Center director and professor, previously have shown that
curcumin decreases severe inflammation in the gut.
"We know that curcumin is an effective supplemental treatment for individuals with IBD," Ghishan said. "Now we're trying to answer the question of how curcumin inhibits inflammation and provides protection to the gut."
"Our discoveries should apply, not just to IBD, but to many other inflammatory disorders associated with impaired lining of the gut," Kiela said. "Discovering the mechanism of action at the molecular level will help us determine in which clinical scenarios curcumin may have the most beneficial effect as a supportive therapy." -
uanews.org/node/33594