CURCUMIN (TUMERIC) HELPS (A LOT) IN ULCERATIVE COLITIS

The cover of a prestigious medical journal shows a pile of curcumin and over it, the announcement reads: Curcumin Helps Induce Remission in Mild-to-Moderate Ulcerative Colitis (UC). The results seem promising: a well-designed scientific study (A Lang, Clinical Gastroenterology 2015, pages 1444-9) found that curcumin, in combination with one of the common medicines for UC (mesalamine), was more likely to support UC remission when compared to mesalamine alone.

That's big news for a lot of reasons: first, this Indian spice (derived from tumeric) is inexpensive and well-tolerated; second, this study supports an earlier study (H Hanai, Clinical Gastroenterology 2006, pages 1502-6) which had previously shown that curcumin can help keep ulcerative colitis patients from flaring for up to 12 months.

In the current study (A Lang, Clinical Gastroenterology 2015, pages 1444-9), those UCees (participants with UC) who had not responded to the mesalamine were given 3 grams of curcumin in capsule form, or a placebo for one month. The study found that 65% of the participants who took the curcumin had improvements in their UC symptoms. Of those who experienced improvements, more than half (54%) went into full remission. Perhaps even more importantly, 38% of those taking the curcumin showed improvement in the intestinal tissue when a colonoscopy was performed. That's comparable or better than some of the medications that are being used.

While curcumin supplementation had some positive effects on UC symptoms, curcumin did not work for everyone. Two participants had to stop taking it because their symptoms got worse. Since the study only had 50 participants and only lasted 4 weeks, it still isn't certain how effective curcumin can be for all Ucees. However, the study gives some early insight into how curcumin may help some UCees with symptom management.  But more research is needed to support the findings of the current study.

If you are interested in adding curcumin to your or your child's UC care, talk to your health care provider about if it could be added to current care regimens.