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(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Could chemicals found in onions and curry help fight polyps found in the digestive tract?
Perhaps, report Johns Hopkins researchers who tested a pill containing onion and curry chemicals in five patients with an inherited condition that causes hundreds of polyps to develop in the intestinal tract and usually leads to colon cancer. After taking the treatment for several months, patients saw about a 60-percent drop in the number of polyps and about a 50-percent reduction in the size of the polyps that were left.
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The pill is made up of curcumin, which is found in turmeric, the key ingredient in curry, and quercetin, an antioxidant found in onions. Because the dose of curcumin was significantly higher than the dose of quercetin, however, the investigators believe the curcumin is largely responsible for the results.
The investigators explain many people with the inherited polyp condition, known as adenomatous polyposis, or FAP, are treated with nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, but these drugs have many unwanted side effects, including gastrointestinal bleeding. The curcumin/quercetin pill has few, if any, side effects.
Given the positive findings in this small study, the researchers are planning another clinical trial to test the pill in a larger group of patients. "We believe this is the first proof of principle that these substances have significant effects in patients with FAP," reports study author Francis M. Giardiello, M.D.
This article was reported by Ivanhoe.com, who offers Medical Alerts by e-mail every day of the week. To subscribe, go to: http://www.ivanhoe.com/newsalert/.
SOURCE: Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology, published online Aug. 1, 2006
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