Inflammation is a complex process, caused by cell infection or tissue damage. A series of chain reactions produced by inflammation will eventually lead to the development and acceleration of certain chronic diseases. Because inflammation plays an inducing or even accelerating role in most chronic diseases, anti-inflammatory drugs are needed to prevent it. Some different steroidal and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs such as semicoxib, aspirin, ibuprofen, etc. can be used to treat inflammatory diseases, and most of them have side effects. Studies have found that the anti-inflammatory activity of curcumin is comparable to steroidal and non-steroidal drugs, such as indomethacin and phenylbutazone, and is safe in most cases.
In Chinese, whether it is inflammation caused by bacteria or viruses or without inflammation caused by bacteria or viruses, it is called inflammation. However, in English, the former is called infection or infection, while the latter is called infection. Rheumatoid arthritis, frozen shoulder often found in the elderly, and other diseases belong to the latter type of inflammation.
Modern medicine has a lot of new understanding of inflammation. Inflammation is caused by some chemicals that can cause inflammation, such as prostaglandin (PG-E2), tumor necrosis factor (TNF), and so on. These harmful things are transformed from some other chemical substances in the body. For example, prostaglandins are derived from a compound called arachidonic acid. And this transformation must be catalyzed by an enzyme, which is called cyclooxygenase (COX-2). In a large number of experiments, it was found that curcumin can effectively inhibit the activity of cyclooxygenase. Once the catalysis of cyclooxygenase is prevented, arachidonic acid cannot be effectively converted into prostaglandins, thus blocking the production of inflammation. This is one of the principles of curcumin's anti-inflammatory effect.
Rheumatism and rheumatoid arthritis are one of the five major diseases that affect people's health. In China, hundreds of millions of yuan are spent every year to deal with this disease. The most effective anti-inflammatory drugs are steroid hormones, such as cortisone and dexamethasone. However, hormones suppress the human immune system and can cause great damage to multiple organs. Doctors generally consider using them as a last resort.
Experiments have found that the anti-inflammatory effects of curcumin can even rival some steroid hormones.