New data suggest that supplements of a patented, high bioavailability curcumin may actually match a prescription rheumatoid arthritis drug for joint health benefits, but with fewer side effects; clearly an added benefit in its own right.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), arthritis is the leading cause of disability in the United States. Approximately 21 million adults are currently affected by arthritis and that number is predicted to rise to 67 million by the year 2030.
Dr. Ajay Goel from Baylor University Medical Center says, “The drugs used for people with rheumatoid arthritis can have severe adverse effects.”
The study involved 45 people with rheumatoid arthritis who were randomly assigned to receive a curcumin supplement (1,000 mg per day), the prescription drug diclofenac sodium (100 mg per day), or a combination of both for eight weeks.
Researchers wanted to test the comparative effectiveness of curcumin for reducing swelling and pain. Because of their concerns that curcumin on its own wouldn’t be sufficiently absorbed, they chose a specific extract called BCM-95® to use in the study–there is evidence that this potent concentrate absorbs between 7 and 10 times better than ordinary curcumin.
After the eight week trial, all groups displayed improvements in various joint health measures. The BCM-95® group displayed the greatest reductive trend in symptoms, although statistically results were considered equal among all three groups.
However, the same group displayed reduced markers of more general inflammation as well, including C-reactive protein (CRP), which is most commonly used to measure the risk of heart disease. On another interesting side note, over 10 percent of the prescription group dropped out of the study on account of intolerable side effects, while the curcumin group remained 100 percent compliant.
As the researchers wrote, “Our observations that curcumin alone was able to alleviate symptoms of rheumatiod arthritis in this study are quite encouraging, and these results provide an ideal springboard for investigating the potential of curcumin in other chronic diseases arising in the setting of dysregulated chronic inflammation.”
This endorsement speaks plainly. Along with matching a prescription drug in effectiveness within this study, being far more readily available and displaying no apparent side effects, curcumin thus far presents itself as a very viable alternative for joint health benefits.
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