Potential Neuroprotective Effects of Curcumin against Dementia

Dementia represents a severe neuropsychiatric condition which affects more than 36 million people worldwide. To date, no pharmaoclogical approach to dementia has proven to be effective in modifying the course of the disease. Curcumin, the main active component of turmeric, may represent a potential therapeutic agent for dementia, due to the lower prevalence of this pathology in India, where population consumes higher quantity of traditional spices. Our review provides an overview about the pre-clinical and clinical studies which have evaluated the effect of curcumin in animal models and humans.