Alzheimers herbs and spices

Alzheimers herbs and spices can help prevent or even reverse this condition.

Alzheimer's disease is an age-related degenerative condition of the brain. It occurs in up to 50 percent of 85 year olds in the West.

In India the rarity of Alzheimer's disease has been linked to the consumption of high levels of turmeric and other spices.The precise cause of AD is unknown but several factors are known to be associated with its development.

Turmeric, rosemary, sage, ginger and garlic show impressive protective and curative effects against this disease. Therefore these and possibly other spices could be considered the best natural preventives and treatments for Alzheimer's disease.

Causes of Alzheimer's Disease

The most prominent of these is the deposition of an abnormal protein, Beta-amyloid, in the brains of Alzheimer's disease sufferers. Beta-amyloid is deposited in the form of plaques between the neurons and also accumulates in the walls of small blood vessels in the brain, where it impedes the flow of blood to brain tissues. The aggregation inside the neurones of abnormal amounts of tau protein filaments is another pathological feature of Alzheimer's disease.

A further process associated with the disease is atrophy, or wasting, of nerve tissue which leads to the loss of synapses and their associated neurotransmitter chemicals from key areas of the brain.

In all cases, the precise causes of these pathological processes are unclear but they and certain other factors appear to increase the risk and aggravate the development of Alzheimer's disease

Factors associated with Alzheimer's disease

Chronic oxidative stress
Free radical damage and oxidative stress is being investigated as one of the pathological processes underlying the development of the disease. Most spices, in addition to turmeric, rosemary, sage, ginger and garlic should be able to provide beneficial antioxidants for Alzheimer's disease

Chronic systemic inflammation
This insidious form of inflammation may also be a causative factor, as recent studies have found that individuals who take aspirin and other non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs have much lower incidences of Alzheimer's disease than those who do not take these drugs. However there is evidence that inflammatory cells in the brain play an important role in combating the accumulation of beta-amyloid protein.

Genetics:
There is evidence that genetic factors may play a minor role as a cause of Alzheimer's disease.

Herbs and spices and prevention of Alzheimer's disease

Confirming epidemiological pointers that diet plays a key role in Alzheimer's disease’s low incidence in India are several promising laboratory studies of the phytonutrient curcumin.

Turmeric
Found in large quantities in turmeric , curcumin has been shown to inhibit the deposition of the protein beta-amyloid in the brain and, in some cases, actually reverse this process.

Gingerol and zingerone found in ginger (that also contains curcumin) have similar protective effects.

Rosemary
Studies have also shown that carnosic acid and rosmarinic acid, both present in rosemary and several other Mediterranean herbs such as sage and oregano have powerful anti-Alzheimer's effects. Carnosic acid in particular, works as an antioxidant that crosses the blood brain barrier, increases blood supply to the brain and enhances the production of the body's own antioxidant, glutathione.

Sage
Sage also contains carnosic and rosmarinic acids and a number of clinical trials have shown it to be of great value in helping both the symptoms and underlying pathologies associated with Alzheimer's disease.

Garlic
Although these are the most thoroughly researched spices in respect of Alzheimer's disease, evidence is accumulating that several others, including garlic, have similar preventive effects against this disorder. Moreover, it is almost certain that the list of spices shown to protect us against Alzheimer's disease will continue to grow. In particular, the preventive effect of long-term ingestion of aspirin suggests that the many salicylate-rich spices confer similar protection against this illness.

Research continues to reveal that, as in the case of other degenerative diseases, there are multiple underlying processes responsible for Alzheimer's disease, toxic metal accumulation, oxidative stress and chronic systemic inflammation being the prime suspects.

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