Fighting Cancer with Turmeric

Turmeric, a colorful spice used extensively in Asia, is a key ingredient of curry. Turmeric may be protecting children against leukemia, a scientist says.

Rates of blood cancer have been rising steadily for the past 50 years but the occurrence in Asia is much lower than in the West.

Prof. Moolky Nagabhushan, of the Loyola University of Medical Center in Chicago, told a conference that factor could be due, at least partly to turmeric.

Scientists suspect some children are born with a predisposition to the illness, but that they do not develop the disease unless it is triggered by environmental factors including infections, pesticides and chemicals.

”Our studies show that turmeric ? and it colouring? curcumin ? in the diet mitigate the effects of some of these risk factors,“ Nagabhushan added.

He and his colleagues showed that the spice irreversibly inhibits the multiplication of leukemia cells and seems to protect against damage caused by cigarette smoke and eating certain processed foods.

Dr. Marilyn Kwan, of the University of California, Berkley, presented separate results of a study which showed he benefits of eating healthy foods. &rdqou;We found that regular consumption of oranges and/or bananas during the first two years of life was associated with a reduced risk of childhood leukemia,“ she said.