ncbill
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Don't forget the perennially popular "gin-soaked raisins" cure for joint pain.
Though I don't think it was the raisins...
Turmeric for inflammation control
- Thread starter Chuckanut
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Don't forget the perennially popular "gin-soaked raisins" cure for joint pain.
Though I don't think it was the raisins...
RAE
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Actually, there is a fair amount of science behind the health benefits of turmeric, if you dig through the medical literature. Here is one example, and a quote from the Abstract:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23013352
RESULTS:
Curcumin, but not placebo, produced the following statistically significant changes: lowering of plasma triglyceride values, lowering of salivary amylase levels, raising of salivary radical scavenging capacities, raising of plasma catalase activities, lowering of plasma beta amyloid protein concentrations, lowering of plasma sICAM readings, increased plasma myeloperoxidase without increased c-reactive protein levels, increased plasma nitric oxide, and decreased plasma alanine amino transferase activities.
CONCLUSION:
Collectively, these results demonstrate that a low dose of a curcumin-lipid preparation can produce a variety of potentially health promoting effects in healthy middle aged people.
OldShooter
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The study sample size was 38 people and the study lasted for four weeks. That is not science; it is probably someone writing a master's thesis or an undergraduate paper on a shoestring budget. Statistically, it's little better than the anecdotes we have in this thread.
It certainly does not refute the OP's quotation from NIH: "Claims that curcuminoids found in turmeric help to reduce inflammation aren’t supported by strong studies."
Fedup
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I went back to the link by OP, in the process of copying and paste, he dropped a few bullets that might made reading better. The first bullet says inflammation aren’t supported. The second says it may for something.
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OldShooter
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To be clear, I really don't have a dog in this fight. I'm not even sure why I clicked on the thread in the beginning, but having been trained as a scientist and engineer I am always amazed at the various anecdote-based enthusiasms that come and go. IIRC even lead, at some point in history, had its proponents as a medicine.
Dropping off the thread now ...
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Fedup
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I understand. I’m trained as an engineer and so is my husband, PhD and lots of research, he was reluctant to use any alternative medicine. Another anecdote here, his right heel healed since he’s been taking turmeric. Before that he couldn’t run because it kept inflamed and hurting.
I’m the type, I would try almost anything to see if it works, if not and no harm done, then I’m ok with it. Im trying to stay flexible.
harllee
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DH has psoriatic arthritis with significant knee pain and swelling. His rheumatologist suggested turmeric. DH has been taking turmeric for several years and for him it has really helped with the knee pain, swelling and inflammation. Occasionally he gets off turmeric to see what happens and within a few weeks his knees are much worse so he immediately gets back on turmeric and the knees calm down.
Fedup
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It tastes awful according to my husband and daughter. But one mixes it with milk to help her swallow easier. I put mine in a freezer, only use occasionally when my husband doesn’t feel well. Otherwise it would get moldy too quickly.
I used to take Glucosamine from Costco, it did help a little with my hip arthritis, but I like turmeric because it’s a root and has no bad side effects. The only thing is when my husband had an outpatient surgery, he stopped two weeks before the surgery, he wanted his blood to gel faster. He didn’t have any problem with the surgery. But don’t forget, turmeric has slow effect, that’s with most alternative medicine. I swear by acupuncture but my brother said it didn’t do anything to him because he only went a few times.
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OP
OP
Chuckanut
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What form does he take? The pills sold in stores? Ground up and mixed with honey? I can't help thinking that the form may also make a difference. For example, resveratrol taken in real wine is supposedly superior to that found in pills. OK, OK, bring on the wise cracks.
tmm99
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Thank you for the information, Fedup. We'll buy a small amount of fresh turmeric and see then. If we cannot stomach the taste, we'll probably try the capsule version. How much do they take in a day?
harllee
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What form does he take? The pills sold in stores? Ground up and mixed with honey? I can't help thinking that the form may also make a difference. For example, resveratrol taken in real wine is supposedly superior to that found in pills. OK, OK, bring on the wise cracks.
DH just takes capsule form sold in the pharmacy
Carpediem
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The liquid version sold at Costco tastes like one of those orange dream-sicles. The person doing the demo at the store mixed it with the liquid version of CoQ10 and the combination was really good too but we didn't go with the CoQ10 product.
timo2
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Never underestimate the 'Placebo Effect'. Including for items like Turmeric or any other drug. Most drugs I've been prescribed, when I read the fine print, are barely more effective than the placebo effect. But the still are prescribed and still work on people.
From a 2016 article "Scientists have identified for the first time the region in the brain responsible for the “placebo effect” in pain relief, when a fake treatment actually results in substantial reduction of pain, according to new research from Northwestern Medicine and the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago (RIC)."
https://news.northwestern.edu/stori...eet-spot-for-pain-relief-identified-in-brain/
From a 2016 article "Scientists have identified for the first time the region in the brain responsible for the “placebo effect” in pain relief, when a fake treatment actually results in substantial reduction of pain, according to new research from Northwestern Medicine and the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago (RIC)."
https://news.northwestern.edu/stori...eet-spot-for-pain-relief-identified-in-brain/
OP
OP
Chuckanut
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Speaking of the placebo effect here's an interesting book on how our mental situation affects our body. It is mainly about back pain, but the points the doctor makes are good ones nonetheless.
Book – Back in Control
The thing that stood out in my mind was his comparison of pain for which we often find no physical problem with amputees 'feeling' a phantom limb. The brain remembers past experiences and resurrects feelings that don't exist. One can see how the placebo effect can be very real if the brain can make us 'feel' a limb we no longer have. Add in some stress and anxiety as triggers and one has a very nice setup for pain.
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timo2
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Speaking of the placebo effect here's an interesting book on how our mental situation affects our body. It is mainly about back pain, but the points the doctor makes are good ones nonetheless.
Book – Back in Control
The thing that stood out in my mind was his comparison of pain for which we often find no physical problem with amputees 'feeling' a phantom limb. The brain remembers past experiences and resurrects feelings that don't exist. One can see how the placebo effect can be very real if the brain can make us 'feel' a limb we no longer have. Add in some stress and anxiety as triggers and one has a very nice setup for pain.
I have a personal example of your point from a dog I used to have. She was severely panicked by thunderstorms. We used that Thunder-vest on her and it did relax her for about several hours. But Dr. Temple Grandin, upon whose compression therapy work the Thunder-vest is based, said the compression effect should only last a short time, maybe 15 to 30 minutes at most. That means to me that any relief the dog was receiving past about 20 minutes was due to her memory of the vest working when it was first put on her.
johncasey37
Confused about dryer sheets
Hi, I am 61 and have had much inflammation most of my life. A few months ago, started one of the many curcumin / turmeric supplements. I could tell right away it did have a positive effect. I am still taking it.
Fedup
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Oh no, it’s placebo effect.
OP
OP
Chuckanut
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Or it could be working for real!
We need to recognize that the placebo effect is both real and extremely powerful.
johncasey37
Confused about dryer sheets
I might acknowledge the placebo effect, if it was not for the $20,000 and 400 other supplements that i tried that did not do anything....Been at this a long time.Oh no, it’s placebo effect.
Now, I did not say it was miraculous, I said it has a positive effect.
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timo2
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Yes it could. But it appears to be a mystery as to why.
harllee
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So maybe the positive effect that turmeric has on my husband's psoriatic arthritis knees is a placebo effect BUT if it helps his knee pain, swelling etc does it really matter whether it is placebo or not? When he takes turmeric his knees don't swell and hurt as much. Doesn't matter to my husband whether it is a placebo or not, it helps.
dixonge
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here's the thing - placebo effect or no, it's one of the things that you can add into your diet and it can't really hurt anything, unlike NSAIDS. We have turmeric in our oatmeal every day, for example, for many reasons, the anti-inflammatory properties being just one. More info here:
https://nutritionfacts.org/video/which-spices-fight-inflammation/
https://nutritionfacts.org/video/which-spices-fight-inflammation/
timo2
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Yes. It is sort of a conundrum. Finding the right product that works with an individuals brain seems more important than having a high and mighty approved drug. We might have to rethink how we think about medical treatments!
edit: from that link I posted in #39
"If future similar studies can further expand and eventually provide a brain-based predictive best-therapy option for individual patients, it would dramatically decrease unnecessary exposure of patients to ineffective therapies and decrease the duration and magnitude of pain suffering and opioid use, Baliki and Apkarian said."
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