http://www.healthsentinel.com/news.php?event=news_print_list_item&id=218
"Turmeric May Protect Against Leukemia -Scientist", Reuters, September
9, 2004,
Link: http://olympics.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=healthNews&storyID=6190483
Turmeric, a spice used extensively in Asia as a key ingredient of
curry, may be protecting children against leukemia, a scientist said
on Thursday.
Rates of the blood cancer have been rising steadily for the past 50
years but its incidence in Asia is much lower than in the West.
Professor Moolky Nagabhushan, of the Loyola University Medical Center
in Chicago, told a conference that factor could be due, at least
partly, to turmeric.
"Some of the known risk factors that contribute to the high incidence
of childhood leukemia are the interaction of many lifestyle and
environmental factors," he said.
Scientists suspect some children are born with a predisposition to the
illness, which occurs most often in children aged 1-4, but that they
do not develop the disease unless it is triggered by environmental
factors.
Infections, viruses, radiation, pesticides and chemicals are among the
suspected culprits.
"Our studies show that turmeric -- and its coloring ... 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 in laboratory studies and seems to
protect against damage caused by cigarette smoke and eating certain
processed foods.
Dr Marilyn Kwan, of the University of California, Berkeley, presented
separate results of a study of more than 300 children which showed the
benefits of eating healthy foods.
"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," Kwan said.
"These findings are consistent with the protective role of fruits and
vegetables observed in adult cancers," she added.
Oranges are rich in vitamin C and bananas have high levels of
potassium, both of which are thought to protect against cancer.
The week-long childhood leukemia conference is organized by the
British charity Children with Leukemia.