A research team led by Dr. Gary W. Small at the UCLA Memory and Aging Research Institute announced at the 2017 International Alzheimer’s Society Conference held in London on the 19^th that Theracurmin has tested effective in memory and attention enhancement in elderly people without Alzheimer’s, including people with mild cognitive impairment (MCI). In this trial Theracurmin, which increases the body absorption rate of curcumin, was used.

The trial was conducted on a group of 40 men and women aged between 51 to 84 years undergoing a normal aging process or having only mild cognitive impairment. The subjects were divided into an experimental group, which took Theracurmin® (curcumin 90mg) twice daily for 18 months, and a placebo group, which took the same dose of a placebo for the same period of time. After the first 6 months of the trial both groups took language, visual memory and attention tests. The results revealed that the experimental group showed a marked improvement in all three functions while the placebo group did not. In particular, the results of the SRT Consistent Long-Term Retrieval scores and attention test showed a significant improvement compared to the placebo group.

After 18 months, the team assessed the effect of curcumin on neuronal cytotoxicity via PET scan. The scans revealed that an increased level of amyloid plaques and tau protein tangle aggregation, which are neurotoxic substances, can increase the likelihood of early development of Alzheimer’s disease. For the CT scans of the brains, FDDNP, a chemical for dementia diagnosis, was used. FDDNP is a chemical that binds to neurotoxicants, and dementia can be diagnosed by analyzing the degree of binding. The results showed that the level of neurotoxicant and FDDNP binding in the amygdala was significantly decreased in the Theracurmin group. Also, in the hypothalamic region, no change was observed in the Theracurm group, while the placebo group showed an increase in the level of DDNP binding, indicating a significant difference between the two groups.

The study was led by Dr. Gary W. Small, a renowned psychiatrist and neuroscientist at UCLA who runs the memory impairment clinic at the UCLA Memory and Aging Research Institute and Neuropsychiatric Institute. Dr. Small has published numerous research papers on the effects of aging on the brain and has been picked as one of the world’s pioneers in the field of science and technology by Scientific American.

Dr. Gary Small said, “We were able to confirm from the brain tomography that a decrease in the amyloid plaques and tau protein aggregates in the Theracurmin group has an effect on memory and attention improvement.” He then added, “The results show that daily intake of Theracurmin can improve memory and attention in people in the normal aging process as well as elderly people with mild cognitive impairment.”

Theracurmin used in the clinical trial is an ingredient that increases the body absorption rate of curcumin, which is extracted from curcuma, a main ingredient of curry. Curcumin is a lipid soluble ingredient of large particles and has been found to have the disadvantage of low body absorption rate. Theracurmin was developed by the Japanese functional ingredients company Theravalues Corporation. In December last year, Handok Inc. acquired Theravalues Corporation and now plans to develop various products targeting domestic as well as global markets.

Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) is an intermediate stage of memory loss between normal aging and dementia. People who suffer from MCI display impaired cognitive function, especially memory, compared to people of the same age. They are not deemed to be afflicted with dementia because their ability to perform everyday life tasks is intact.