Turmeric for Pain Relief

The turmeric you have in your cupboards might also be a great pain reliever. Turmeric comes from a root, or to be more technical the rhizome of the turmeric plant. It's boiled and peeled then dried. This bright yellow root gives flavor to Indian dishes as well as pickles. It also gives color to many products such as ice cream and margarine. Turmeric can do more for you than just make a meal more appealing. It has several medicinal uses, one of which is pain relief.

Contents

• The most potent part of the turmeric is its color. You read that correctly. The curcumin in turmeric gives the spice the bright yellow color and provides the body with powerful antioxidants. The curcumin also performs other actions on the body's cells to help it heal and remain healthy.

Function

• The curcumin in the turmeric inhibits the activity and the creation of two enzymes that cause inflammation, COX2, cocylooxygenase and 5-LOX, 5-lipooxygenase. The reduction of the inflammation helps bring about relief from pain.

Clots

• The formation of blood clots has many different effects on the body. They may be the reason for a stroke, heart attack or pain. According to researchers at the Medical College of Georgia, turmeric may prevent the development of clots. They find that administering curcumin immediately after a stroke, it helps decrease the size of the clot. Blood clots form other places and cause pain and danger of more severe problems. Eat an Indian meal before you begin a long plane trip. It might help to prevent traveler's clots caused by inactivity.

Skin Cancer Pain

• According to Patrick Quillin, PhD, RD, CNS in his 2005 revised edition of "Beating Cancer With Nutrition" skin cancer patients who were no longer helped by traditional methods showed a reduction in not only pain and itching but also the size of skin growths from the cancer when given turmeric supplements.

Arthritis Study

• The National Institute of Health funded a research project at Arizona Center for Phytomedicine Research at the UA College of Medicine. Janet L. Funk, M.D., headed the project. The study compared the pain relief from commercial pain relief products and the extract from turmeric root. The results of the study found the turmeric as effective as the commercial pain relief. The cucuminoids in turmeric extract inhibits activation of the transcription factor, NF-KB. When NF-KB activates, it binds to the genes and increases the proteins that cause the damage to the joints and inflammation. Dr.Funk's research suggests that not only is the turmeric supplement effective on arthritis, it also may help those with other diseases that come from inflammation such as MS, asthma or inflammatory bowel disease.

Living Proof

• According to Dr. Scott Haig, in the July 13, 2009 issue of the online CNN partner, Time.com, he watched as a patient gained relief from pain for a condition he had from birth. The doctor prescribed many different prescription drugs that had no side effects. The problem was that they also had no effect on the patient's pain. One day the patient decided to try turmeric supplements. It not only helped, but when he went in for a hip replacement because of a limp, difficulty with stiffness and rising from a chair, he had no pain. Dr. Haig attributes the relief from the turmeric.