Well, well, I just happened upon a lovely bit of news. Are you ready?
The MD Anderson curcumin myeloma clinical trial is not THE only one. Yep, that’s right. Another trial is being held right now in Australia. Well, okay, technically, it’s a MGUS, not MM, curcumin trial, as we will see in a second.
Let’s see, you can access the PDF file that provides some information about the trial (an interesting read, by the way), but for some reason it doesn’t seem to work unless you do a Google search (for instance, the words curcumin myeloma clinical trial Australia should bring up the correct Dove Press article).
OR you can click on this HTML link: http://tinyurl.com/crkjy3. Then click on the PDF link at the top of that page. You can then download the PDF file onto your computer.
OR (!) you can do another Google search for the title of the study “The potential role of curcumin (diferuloylmethane) in plasma cell dyscrasias/paraproteinemia.” I’m very sorry that I cannot provide a direct link (as I said, it doesn’t work, not for me anyway). But this search operation will take only a few extra seconds of your time.
If you don’t want to go to the trouble, though, then just read the following synopsis. The abstract tells us that Preliminary results from our pilot study show a drop of between 5% and 30% serum paraprotein in patients taking curcumin compared with patients on placebo. Thirty percent??? Holy cats and dogs! That’s Giovanni Allevi music to my ears…sweet!
The Australian researchers favour early intervention in MGUS patients to reduce the paraprotein load. I am in favour of that, too, but only if said intervention is made with non-toxic natural extracts. As in this case.
Toward the end of the article, we get to the relevant part: We are conducting a single blind randomized controlled pilot study on 25 patients with paraproteinemia. Entry criteria included patients defined as having MGUS ie, the presence of a serum paraprotein (greater than 8 g/L and less than 40 g/L) with the exclusion of multiple myeloma. These patients are being monitored for a 6 month period of curcumin or placebo therapy.
I almost got teary when I read what followed: Curcumin or placebo is being administered orally as a 2 grams twice daily regimen. After one week on curcumin, there has been a drop of between 5% and 30% serum paraprotein in some patients, compared to controls […]. After 3 months of curcumin therapy, these reduced levels have remained suppressed. These exciting findings have prompted a double-blind, randomized, controlled trial. The benefits of the fall in paraprotein is uncertain. How long these reduced levels will remain suppressed and what the clinical benefits are, remain to be seen. As a natural product, it has exciting potential in the treatment of plasma cell dyscrasias. Only TWO grams of curcumin??? YAY!!!
I say, this is very exciting news indeed. Another trial! Plus, the preliminary results are bloody excellent. Hoppity hop! Needless to say, I have a million questions that I hope will be answered soon. For instance, I wonder what type of curcumin these patients are taking, how they are taking it, blablabla. Rest assured, as soon as I have any news, I will post it. Good or bad, as always…but hey, how could it not be good?!!!
This is really exciting news indeed! Anyway I think it’s not 2 gr., it’s 2 gr. twice a day. Anyway 4 gr. is not bad!
The fact that after one week there was already a steady decline (stable after months) confirms, in my opinion, that curcumin has a very short life in you body. When you take it, it immediately lowers your PP level. When you stop taking it, its effect immediately disappears.
Margaret, you need to get in touch with those Australians 😀
Suggestion about curcumin. did not follow study of curcumin for about two years. Since that time I did not use any more this bright orange powder since I did not . First I thought that the study was not design correctly, because curcumin is very poorly absorb from GI tract. I just remember some oriental study that a dose below 8 g a day is marginally absorbs so blood level is almost undetectable. As I remember MD Anderson did not mention about necessity of fatty solvents. I was puzzle why? This is only my suggestion that curcumin affects GI flora very complex ecosystem and modifies many microbial, viral, fungal metabolic pathways and their cellular membranes. This may play a role as small part in holding MGUS to progress even if curcumin is not really absorb.
Peter 06
Sorry about grammar. I copy and paste but something go wrong.
Margaret. you rule!
Spouse with SM had a horrible day with L-5 vertebra that seems to be still collapsing in spite of the kyphoplasty by an area expert and the input of Mayo specialists last week. BUT he finally consented to taking turmeric capsules my daughter gave him. I know it isn’t curcumin, but we are getting there. Just have to get it chosen and ordered. I’ve been reading him stuff from your links to MD Anderson & Mayo, and now can share this study. Even our Mayo Dr. was a little flip about supplements (“You can eat all the Indian food you want…’) but on our next appt we will also see the Complimentary (Alternative) Medicine department and I hope for better support. Thank you for taking time to blog. Know that you make a difference!
Ah, Sherlock, thanks for catching my mistake (=caused by my momentary bit of excitement)…but hey, as you say, even four grams is still amazing. Ah, if only I’d known about curcumin when I was in the MGUS stage. Uffa!
Peter, I believe you are absolutely right. What you say is in fact supported by the recent curcumin-cellular membrane study. Also, some time ago, I remember reading a scientific study suggesting that curcumin is absorbed by body tissues.
So even though it doesn’t pop up in the bloodstream, etc. etc. etc., curcumin seems to be working at other levels inside the body. I am going to take it for the rest of my life, for sure (unless something better comes along, of course!).
Julie, thank you for your kind words. Good luck with your husband’s kyphoplasty, hope all goes well.
Wow Margaret
What a sleuth, you dig these studies out, however hard they are to find on google. This sounds really good, of course they may have mixed it with oil supplements to make it more bio available.
Well done, keep up the good work.
I have had some good results recently, nothing that is mind blowing, but everything is going in the right direction, only in very small increments, My red blood count has moved into the normal range for the first time in over a year, my WBC is still below normal (but closer to the normal range than it has been for a while). I feel reasonably healthy and have started working again 2hrs a day (I stopped full time work when i was diagnosed in 2004). So things are looking up.
Like you, I found Turmeric and then curcumin (I currently take a combination of the two), fairly early on. I also will carry on taking them for the rest of my life.
Love and health
Sue
Piperine increases the bioavailability of curcumin up to 1000 times.
By the way, the measurement of M-Spike is not even exactly.
There are failure rates up to 20 % in the standard measurement methods in the lab.
E.g. you have an constant M-Spike of 3000 over the hole year in your blood. One lab test may show 3300, thre months later the next may show 2900, the next one 3050 and the next 3200.
If you take curcumin or other suplements between two lab tests the result can be different depending the errors in the measurement.
To see a realistic trend in your lab values it is nessesary to watch the tests over years not only over month.
My total IgG raised slowly from 2500 up to 3750 within the last 10 years. But the single values every 3 or 6 month within these 10 years are jumping up and down like a cat with mousie.
My wife has been taking cucurmin with coconut oil twice a day for over 2 years now, starting for a year with 6000mg a day (3000mg morning and evening) now taking 4000mg twice a day. Her last exhaustive testing (Lab and hours of MRI’s) came up with nothing. Yes, at this dosage cucurmin will bleed thru the skin onto clothing and her complexion is slightly darker than normal. She was diaagnosed in 06, took 6 months of Thalomide chemo, once a day, and dexamthasone and ?cant remember the third one and Coumadin for blood clot preventative. She is now off all of this and the only effects showing is her back where the MM grew a large tumor. This was killed with 14 radiation treatments. So, all of you MM people hang in there, there is hope and possible a cure in sight!!! Let me add that many many people were also praying for her.
Here is a direct link to the article page with abstract and downloadable PDF if all else fails:
http://www.dovepress.com/articles.php?article_id=65
The email address of the corresponding author, Terry Golombick, is at the bottom of the first page on the PDF, if anyone wants to touch base with him. (I work at Dove Press and just noticed Margaret’s blog, so thought this info might help too)
Thank you, Margaret. After reading about curcumin trials at MD Anderson I started taking 500 mg a day (Curcumin C3 Compex from Ageless Cures here in the States) several weeks ago. While I won’t know for another 10 months if it has any impact on my MGUS, I realized this weekend that it is the only thing I have done differently these past weeks and now my normally borderline-high blood pressure is back in the good range and my ankles , which stay in a swollen state most of summer, are not swelling -even in 90 degree heat and high humidity….so, if nothing else, it appears to be acting as an anti-inflammatory! I can’t thank you enough for being a source of great info…and I wish you all the best! You are an inspiration.
do you know if curcumin/termeric is any good for myelodysplasia??
A member of my famly has low platelets, low hb, and low white cells, could this help at all????