No Indian food is complete without turmeric-the yellow spice. It is not only used for its amazing flavour, but used mainly for its various health benefits. Be it a minor cut on your finger or treating cold and cough, turmeric is the ultimate home remedy for these conditions. (Read: Turmeric pills to boost immunity, combat diseases )
Scientists now have found one more reason to include turmeric in your diet. They claim that it can also fight oral cancer caused by a virus. The Indian-origin scientist, Alok Mishra of the Emory University, Atlanta, US, attributes the cancer fighting property of turmeric to its key ingredient called curcumin. It is an anti-oxidant that has a quelling effect on the activity of human papillomavirus (HPV). He explained that turmeric has established antiviral and anti-cancer properties, and according to his findings it is good for oral health too. (Read: Curcumin (Haldi) based drug used in test against Alzheimer’s)
HPV is a virus that promotes the development of cervical and oral cancer. There is no cure, but the new findings suggest that curcumin may offer a means of future control. Mishra’s research group first noted the effect of curcumin on HPV and cervical cancer cells in 2005. The antioxidant slowed the expression of HPV, suggesting that curcumin could control the extent of HPV infection. (Read: Can turmeric cure gastric inflammation and ulcers?)
‘Since HPV-related oral cancer cases are on the rise, we tested the same hypothesis on oral cancer,’ Mishra explained. ‘They turned out to be some very interesting findings.’ The new research indicates that curcumin turns down the expression of HPV in infected oral cancer cells by downregulating the levels of cellular transcription factors AP-1 and NF-kB.
The research was published in the journal ecancermedicalscience.
Previously, a study also revealed that curcumin shows promise in slowing the progression of mesothelioma, a cancer of the lung’s lining often linked to asbestos. According to the study by scientists from Case Western Reserve University and the Georg-Speyer-Haus in Frankfurt, Germany, the spice is a derivative of the spice turmeric and certain cancer-inhibiting peptides, increase levels of a protein inhibitor known to combat the progression of this cancer.
Source: The Health Site
Scientists now have found one more reason to include turmeric in your diet. They claim that it can also fight oral cancer caused by a virus. The Indian-origin scientist, Alok Mishra of the Emory University, Atlanta, US, attributes the cancer fighting property of turmeric to its key ingredient called curcumin. It is an anti-oxidant that has a quelling effect on the activity of human papillomavirus (HPV). He explained that turmeric has established antiviral and anti-cancer properties, and according to his findings it is good for oral health too. (Read: Curcumin (Haldi) based drug used in test against Alzheimer’s)
‘Since HPV-related oral cancer cases are on the rise, we tested the same hypothesis on oral cancer,’ Mishra explained. ‘They turned out to be some very interesting findings.’ The new research indicates that curcumin turns down the expression of HPV in infected oral cancer cells by downregulating the levels of cellular transcription factors AP-1 and NF-kB.
The research was published in the journal ecancermedicalscience.
Previously, a study also revealed that curcumin shows promise in slowing the progression of mesothelioma, a cancer of the lung’s lining often linked to asbestos. According to the study by scientists from Case Western Reserve University and the Georg-Speyer-Haus in Frankfurt, Germany, the spice is a derivative of the spice turmeric and certain cancer-inhibiting peptides, increase levels of a protein inhibitor known to combat the progression of this cancer.
Source: The Health Site
