Thursday, April 14, 2005
A Low Cost Solution for Malaria?
Several reports on the web suggest that 'curcumin', the active ingredient in turmeric promises to prevent malaria. Given the number of people that are affected by malaria, this might be good news. One such report is at Deccan Herald
Scientists at the Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore and the University of Michigan Medical School in the United States showed that curcumin inhibits drug-resistant forms of plasmodium falciparum, the parasite that causes cerebral malaria.
When they fed curcumin to mice infected with Plasmodium bergheii, a related parasite that causes rodent malaria, the number of parasites in the mice's blood fell by 80% to 90%.
Scientists at the Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore and the University of Michigan Medical School in the United States showed that curcumin inhibits drug-resistant forms of plasmodium falciparum, the parasite that causes cerebral malaria.
When they fed curcumin to mice infected with Plasmodium bergheii, a related parasite that causes rodent malaria, the number of parasites in the mice's blood fell by 80% to 90%.
