From HealthDiaries.com:

Turmeric is one of nature’s most powerful healers. The active ingredient in turmeric is curcumin. Tumeric has been used for over 2500 years in India, where it was most likely first used as a dye.

The medicinal properties of this spice have been slowly revealing themselves over the centuries. Long known for its anti-inflammatory properties, recent research has revealed that turmeric is a natural wonder, proving beneficial in the treatment of many different health conditions from cancer to Alzheimer’s disease.

Here are 20 reasons to add turmeric to your diet:

1. It is a natural antiseptic and antibacterial agent, useful in disinfecting cuts and burns.

2. When combined with cauliflower, it has shown to prevent prostate cancer and stop the growth of existing prostate cancer.

3. Prevented breast cancer from spreading to the lungs in mice.

4. May prevent melanoma and cause existing melanoma cells to commit suicide.

5. Reduces the risk of childhood leukemia.

6. Is a natural liver detoxifier.

7. May prevent and slow the progression of Alzheimer’s disease by removing amyloyd plaque buildup in the brain.

8. May prevent metastases from occurring in many different forms of cancer.

9. It is a potent natural anti-inflammatory that works as well as many anti-inflammatory drugs but without the side effects.

10. Has shown promise in slowing the progression of multiple sclerosis in mice.

11. Is a natural painkiller and cox-2 inhibitor.

12. May aid in fat metabolism and help in weight management.

13. Has long been used in Chinese medicine as a treatment for depression.

14. Because of its anti-inflammatory properties, it is a natural treatment for arthritis and rheumatoid arthritis.

15. Boosts the effects of chemo drug paclitaxel and reduces its side effects.

16. Promising studies are underway on the effects of turmeric on pancreatic cancer.

17. Studies are ongoing in the positive effects of turmeric on multiple myeloma.

18. Has been shown to stop the growth of new blood vessels in tumors.

19. Speeds up wound healing and assists in remodeling of damaged skin.

20. May help in the treatment of psoriasis and other inflammatory skin conditions.

Turmeric can be taken in powder or pill form. It is available in pill form in most health food stores, usually in 250-500mg capsules.

Once you start using turmeric on a regular basis, it’s fun to find new ways to use it in recipes. My favorite way to use it is to add a pinch of it to egg salad. It adds a nice flavor and gives the egg salad a rich yellow hue.

Contraindications: Turmeric should not be used by people with gallstones or bile obstruction. Though turmeric is often used by pregnant women, it is important to consult with a doctor before doing so as turmeric can be a uterine stimulant.

Great stuff!

Taking NAC is one of the only supplements that will increase your glutathione levels naturally. If you buy this supplement make sure it is of the highest quality and has an independent lab essay done by a third party.

I take a nutritional supplement called NAC every day to help my body remove toxic chemicals and metals. NAC helps your body create glutathione which is a potent antioxidant and detoxifier of the cells.

What's next ?

I like Jarrowdophilus as a supplement to recolonize the gut flora. It needs to stay refrigerated in order to keep the probiotics alive. I wouldn't buy any probiotic that doesn't need refrigeration due to the fact that heat can kill these.

Autism-Related Study Discovers How Drug Interferes With Neuronal Cell Function

Main Category: Autism
Also Included In: Neurology / Neuroscience;  Pregnancy / Obstetrics
Article Date: 08 Jul 2010 - 4:00 PDT

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A York University study has shown for the first time how the drug misoprostol, which has been linked to neurodevelopmental defects associated with autism, interferes with neuronal cell function.

It is an important finding because misoprostol is similar in structure to naturally-occurring prostaglandins, which are the key signaling molecules produced by fatty acids in the brain.

Past clinical studies have shown an association between misoprostol and severe neurodevelopmental defects including autism symptoms. Those studies looked at cases in Brazil in which women misused the drug early in pregnancy in unsuccessful attempts to terminate their pregnancies.

The York study examined mouse neuronal cells to discover how the drug actually interferes at a molecular level with prostaglandins, which are important for development and communication of cells in the brain.

"Early in the first trimester of pregnancy, neuronal cells reach out to communicate with one another," says Dorota Crawford, an assistant professor in the School of Kinesiology & Health Science in York's Faculty of Health. "Our study shows that misoprostol interferes with this process by increasing the level of calcium ions in neuronal extensions, which reduces the number and length of these extensions. It prevents the cells from communicating with each other. If changes in prostaglandin level alter the development or differentiation of cells, it may have a physiological impact."

Crawford and Javaneh Tamiji, who undertook the research for her master's thesis in the Neuroscience Graduate Diploma Program at York, co-authored a study published online in the journal Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications: "Prostaglandin E2 and misoprostol induce neurite retraction in Neuro-2a cells."

There is no indication that women in Canada are misusing misoprostol to terminate pregnancies, and in fact the drug is used safely for other purposes such as treatment and prevention of gastrointestinal ulcers. However, during early neuronal development the drug misoprostol or other environmental factors such as infections or inflammations, which can also increase the level of prostaglandins, may interfere with normal brain function, says Crawford.

Crawford and Tamiji focused on the drug misoprostol because they had evidence from the clinical studies of the neurotoxic effects of the drug. They used misoprostol and the naturally occurring prostaglandins side by side in their study and found that both compounds produced the same effects on neuronal cell function.

The study shows that misoprostol interferes with the prostaglandin pathway in a dose-dependent manner - in other words, the higher the dose, the greater the problems created.

"What that indicates to us is whether it is infection that will activate it, or whether it is the drug, it will cause the same effect," says Crawford.

Now that it has been shown that misoprostol affects interaction between cells, the next step will be to do animal studies on mice to examine the physiological impacts on particular parts of the brain, she says.

Crawford's lab is one of very few in the world that has adopted a multidisciplinary approach to the study of autism spectrum disorders, using molecular techniques to understand the link between causative biological factors (genes and environment) and the behavioural expression.

Source:
Janice Walls
York University

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Journal of Neuroinflammation Volume 7

Viewing options:  Abstract  PDF (3.2MB) Associated material:  Readers' comments  PubMed record Related literature:  Articles citing this article on PubMed Central  Other articles by authors on Google Scholar on PubMed  Related articles/pages on Google on Google Scholar on PubMed Tools:  Download citation(s)  Email to a friend  Order reprints  Post a comment Post to:  Citeulike  Connotea  Del.icio.us  Facebook  Mendeley http://www.jneuroinflammation.com/content/7/1/46">  http://www.jneuroinflammation.com/content/7/1/46">Twitter

Resveratrol differentially modulates inflammatory responses of microglia and astrocytes Lu, Xiaofeng Ma, Lili Ruan, Lingfei Kong, Yan Mou, Haiwei Zhang, Zhijie Wang, Zhijun Wang, Ji Ming Le, Yingying info:doi/10.1186/1742-2094-7-46 info:pmid/20712904 Journal of Neuroinflammation 2010, 7:46 2010-08-17 Journal of Neuroinflammation 2010-08-17 7 1 Research 46 -->Research

Resveratrol differentially modulates inflammatory responses of microglia and astrocytes

Xiaofeng Lu

, Lili Ma

, Lingfei Ruan

, Yan Kong

, Haiwei Mou

, Zhijie Zhang

, Zhijun Wang

, Ji Ming Wang

and Yingying Le

Journal of Neuroinflammation 2010, 7:46doi:10.1186/1742-2094-7-46

Published:	17 August 2010

Abstract (provisional)

Background

Inflammatory responses in the CNS mediated by activated glial cells play an important role in host-defense but are also involved in the development of neurodegenerative diseases. Resveratrol is a natural polyphenolic compound that has cardioprotective, anticancer and anti-inflammatory properties. We investigated the capacity of resveratrol to protect microglia and astrocyte from inflammatory insults and explored mechanisms underlying different inhibitory effects of resveratrol on microglia and astrocytes.

Methods

A murine microglia cell line (N9), primary microglia, or astrocytes were stimulated by LPS with or without different concentrations of resveratrol. The expression and release of proinflammatory cytokines (TNF-alpha, IL-1beta, IL-6, MCP-1) and iNOS/NO by the cells were measured by PCR/real-time PCR and ELISA, respectively. The phosphorylation of the MAP kinase superfamily was analyzed by western blotting, and activation of NF-kappaB and AP-1 was measured by luciferase reporter assay and/or electrophoretic mobility shift assay.

Results

We found that LPS stimulated the expression of TNF-alpha, IL-1beta, IL-6, MCP-1 and iNOS in murine microglia and astrocytes in which MAP kinases, NF-kappaB and AP-1 were differentially involved. Resveratrol inhibited LPS-induced expression and release of TNF-alpha, IL-6, MCP-1, and iNOS/ NO in both cell types with more potency in microglia, and inhibited LPS-induced expression of IL-1beta in microglia but not astrocytes. Resveratrol had no effect on LPS-stimulated phosphorylation of ERK1/2 and p38 in microglia and astrocytes, but slightly inhibited LPS-stimulated phosphorylation of JNK in astrocytes. Resveratrol inhibited LPS-induced NF-kappaB activation in both cell types, but inhibited AP-1 activation only in microglia.

Conclusion

These results suggest that murine microglia and astrocytes produce proinflammatory cytokines and NO in response to LPS in a similar pattern with some differences in signaling molecules involved, and further suggest that resveratrol exerts anti-inflammatory effects in microglia and astrocytes by inhibiting different proinflammatory cytokines and key signaling molecules.

The complete article is available as a provisional PDF. The fully formatted PDF and HTML versions are in production.