Effects of turmeric on Alzheimer's disease with behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia
The patient was an 83-year-old female who developed progressive dementia. She had started to exhibit disturbances of short-term memory and orientation, when she was 76 years old. There was no past history of diabetes mellitus, hypertension, dyslipidemia, and head injury. The medical family history was unremarkable. She also had difficulty in learning new information. Gradually, her daily activity was disturbed. She had increasing difficulty in getting dressed, cooking, and coordination household tasks. She wandered aimlessly around the house, had incontinence of urine. She had some psychobehavioral changes, such as apathy, anxiety, agitation, and irritability. She required the presence of caregiver, though she was prescribed AChE inhibitor (donepezil 10 mg) and Yokukansan, which is a traditional Japanese medicine (Kampo). When she was 83 years old, she scored on 1/30 her Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), which was used for evaluation of cognitive functions. Her physical examination was largely normal. There were no pyramidal or extra-pyramidal signs. Findings on laboratory tests were normal. Cerebral Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) demonstrated symmetrical bilateral temporal atrophy. After turmeric 764 mg/day (curcumin 100 mg/day) treatment for 12 weeks, both scores of acuity of symptoms and burden of caregivers were decreased by the Japanese version of neuropsychiatric inventory-brief questionnaire (NPI-Q) [, Figures and ]. Among the NPI-Q subscales, her agitation, apathy, anxiety, and irritability were relieved. She began to tell about the need to urinate. Furthermore, she came to join in the laughter watching TV comedy program, began to sing some songs and do knitting, which she used to do. After taking turmeric for more than 1 year, she came to recognize her family, and seem to remind her late husband and she lives a peaceful life without a significant BPSD.