BCM-95® Studied for Alzheimers Effects

JOONDALUP, AustraliaBCM-95®, natural extract of turmeric rhizome standardized to blend of curcuminoids, is the center of a new one-year clinical study to determine the extent to which it may prevent or delay Alzheimers disease. BCM-95®, supplied by DolCas Biotech, Chester, NJ, and distributed in the United States by EuroPharma, Green Bay, WI, will be studied by professor Ralph Martins, Ph.D., at the Centre of Excellence for Alzheimers Disease Research and Care, Edith Cowan University.

I chose BCM-95 curcumin for this human study because it has published human bioavailability data," said Martins, who is the lead researcher in the study. Therefore, I can use a reasonable amount and expect that the serum levels will achieve a therapeutic range for a significant period of time." Because of significant problems with curcumin absorption, clinical work with plain curcumin 95-percent has required very high dosing in past studies.

Curcumin studies in animal models of Alzheimers disease have demonstrated it can play a significant role in the destruction of beta amyloid plaque. It is also an antioxidant, with an ORAC value of 159,277 per 100 gm, as determined by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). Other studies have shown curcumin plays a role in neuronal regeneration. All these properties contribute to its potential utility in addressing this brain disease.

Martins, winner of the 2010 WA Australian of the Year" award, is credited, in collaboration with Australian and German scientists, with isolating beta amyloid protein, which forms the amyloid plaque deposits in the brain, a characteristic diagnostic feature of Alzheimers disease. Martin then went on to demonstrate the Alzheimers brain is under oxidative stress which is now recognized to mediate the action of beta amyloid to cause Alzheimers. As head of the Sir James McCusker Unit for Alzheimers Disease Research for more than 20 years, director of the Centre of Excellence for Alzheimers Disease Research and Care, director and inaugural chair for Ageing and Alzheimer's Disease at Edith Cowan University in Perth, Australia, Martins is working to develop an early diagnostic blood test to effectively prevent and/or treat this degenerative brain disease.