Abstract

Curcuma longa has been used to treat several ailments traditionally, such as rheumatoid arthritis, conjunctivitis, skin cancer, small pox, chicken pox, wound healing, urinary tract infections and liver ailments. Due to its therapeutic properties, it has recently grown in popularity as a potential adjunct therapy for dementia. However, no systematic review of randomised controlled trials has been conducted to evaluate its efficacy and safety for cognitive decline. In this dissertation, literature searches were conducted using four electronic databases, including PubMed Central, Science Direct, CINAHL, and PsycINFO. We retrieved five published studies which were randomised control trials and have included these in the review. Search terms used were ‘dementia’, ‘Alzheimer*’, ‘ageing’, ‘mild cognitive impairment’, ‘cognitive decline’, ‘turmeric’ and ‘curcuma longa’. Efficacy measures such as biochemical markers, neuropsychological assessments, and pharmacological measures have been extracted from studies and synthesised in the review. Although several in vitro and in vivo model studies have found neuroprotective effects of curcumin in Alzheimer’s disease, there is not sufficient evidence to support curcumin use in humans with Alzheimer’s disease, and healthy volunteers. Short term usage of curcumin has been found to be safe. Various reasons such as its low bioavailability and inconsistency in study designs were responsible for discrepancies between preclinical findings and human trials.

Keywords

dementia, alzheimer’s disease, ageing, mild cognitive impairment, cognitive decline, turmeric, curcuma longa