Anti-inflammatory effects of curcumin prevent development of liver cirrhosis in lab study

Wednesday, December 04, 2013 by: PF Louis
Tags: curcumin, liver cirrhosis, anti-inflammatory effects

(NaturalNews) Cirrhosis of the liver can develop from several types of liver damage, disease or inflammation. A group of Israeli researchers set out to determine the effect that anti-inflammatory curcumin would have on curbing the development of cirrhosis in damaged livers.

The researchers used thioacetamide (TAA), a solvent used in leather, textile and paper processing to create cirrhosis-like situations. It's used in laboratories as a hepatotoxicant to induce acute or chronic liver damage by adversely affecting protein synthesis. They used TAA twice weekly on all the lab rats in the study but treated half of them with curcumin.

The curcumin half were fed 300 mg/kg/day by gavage for 12 weeks. Gavage feeding is a forceful method of feeding directly into the stomach through an orally inserted flexible tube. Although some liver fibrosis factors were not ameliorated by the curcumin, several other aspects of cirrhosis, such as unprogrammed or premature cell death (necrosis) were.

Overall, the curcumin-force-fed rats fared much better than their comrades with induced cirrhosis who weren't fed curcumin.

The researchers concluded: "Curcumin inhibited the development of TAA-induced liver cirrhosis mainly due to its anti-inflammatory activities and not by a direct anti-fibrotic effect. As curcumin ingestion is safe in humans, it may be reasonable to assess in clinical studies the beneficial effect of curcumin in slowing the development of liver cirrhosis." (Source below, Science Natural News)

Conditions that may lead to cirrhosis of the liver

It's not just alcoholism or reckless boozing that may lead to cirrhosis of the liver. Any inflamed or damaged liver can turn into cirrhosis, which in turn may lead to needing a liver transplant. Alcohol-induced cirrhosis can be curbed by completely quitting alcohol consumption and using natural supplements.

But there are other liver conditions that bring on cirrhosis of the liver. Untreated hepatitis A, B or C are three such conditions. Again, avoiding alcohol, excess coffee and acetaminophen used in NSAIDs (non-steroid anti-inflammatory drugs), such as Tylenol and others, is advised. Acetaminophen is hard enough on healthy livers.

But the most proliferate liver malady that can lead to cirrhosis is non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). It affects over 90 million people in America.

Obviously, it's not from alcohol consumption. And it's not from saturated fats as the name implies either. The main culprit is high fructose corn syrup (HFCS), which is ubiquitous in processed foods and sodas.

It's so rampant that there are even cases of kids in their early teens whose daily consumption of junk food and sodas caused NAFLD to the extent of needing liver transplants. Completely avoid HFCS.

But don't confuse HFCS with whole fruit fructose. Whole fruit is balanced with fiber and other nutrients, and it's much less concentrated than artificially synthesized HFCS from GMO corn with a mercury byproduct.

The fructose in HFCS overwhelms the liver. Unlike glucose, it isn't converted to energy, it's stored as fat, much of it in the liver. Some health experts say it's the major factor in our obesity epidemic.

So read your labels and avoid any items listed with high fructose corn syrup, HFCS, corn syrup, or corn sugar, all of which are the same poison.

Other treatment tips for damaged livers

Curcumin, especially liposmol curcumin, is proving itself over and over in clinical and lab trials. Herbs such as milk thistle and dandelion root can be taken daily for restoring liver health or simply to maintain good liver health.

Holistic practitioners recommend glutathione, a liver-sensitive master antioxidant that is decomposed by digestive acids. So precursors for glutathione are advised, such as NAC supplements and unadulterated whey products like Immunocal.

But now there's liposomal glutathione, designed to get past the GI tract unharmed. Under proper care, even damaged livers can restore themselves.

Sources for this article include:

http://science.naturalnews.com

Excellent Dr. Hyman video and text report on fatty liver:
http://healthmaven.blogspot.com

More by Dr. Hyman:
http://drhyman.com/blog

http://www.mayoclinic.com

http://informahealthcare.com