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A spice in Indian food might possibly help people with cystic fibrosis. A spice in Indian food might possibly help people with cystic fibrosis. Cystic fibrosis is one of the commonest inherited diseases in Australia. The genetic defect affects secretions from organs like the lungs and the pancreas, which excretes enzymes to digest food. People with cystic fibrosis have limited life spans and often end up on waiting lists for lung transplants. In the old days one clue to cystic fibrosis was excessively salty sweat and it turns out that the abnormality which causes this havoc relates to how sodium and particularly its other half - in salt - chloride, moves in and out of cells - through their membranes, their shrink wrap. Anyway there may be hope in a substance called curcumin which is the main colouring in turmeric. When tested in mice which have one of the common cystic fibrosis defects, curcumin seems to make a protein responsible for this salt transport across the membrane, work more effectively. The researchers gave curcumin in quite high doses and it didn't seem to do any harm. The next step will be to trial it in people since what works in mice doesn't necessarily translate to two legged animals. Curcumin by the way is already popular in herbal medicine circles.
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