Study: HIV-associated diarrhea successfully treated with curcumin

Conteas CN, Panossian Am, Tran TT, Singh H. Treatment of HIV-associated diarrhea with curcumin. Dig Dis Sci 2009; 54: 2188-2191.

Interventions attempt

eight male patients who suffered from HIV-related diarrhea without any recognizable cause took part.

The participants were instructed to take between 1 g and 3 g curcumin per day (the mean daily dose was 1.9 g). Most doses were divided into three daily administration. The interventions took 41 weeks on average.

Number of stool ducts per day, weight gain and gastrointestinal (gi) symptoms

In all 8 participants, a complete dissolution of the diarrhea and normalization of the chair occurred within an average of 13 days. The average number of stool ducts per day dropped from 6.7 to 1.7 ( p =. 006). Seven out of 8 had an average of £ 10.8. Five out of 6 with initial symptoms of flatulence and abdominal pain also experienced a resolution of these symptoms. On a scale of 1 to 10, the symptom values ​​fell from an output value from 7.8 to 1.6 ( p =. 0001).

diarrhea is a common consequence of a HIV disease. Although sometimes a bacterial pathogen is the cause, no pathogen is often found. There is no generally accepted conventional treatment, and common anti -diarrhetics that have been used often trigger side effects. There are numerous examined effects of curcumin (e.g. anti -inflammatory activity, inhibition of cyclooxygenase and lipoxygenase), which makes it difficult for us to determine exactly why its use in this small study was so successful. Although this was a small, uncontrolled study, the security profile of curcumin and the complaints related to HIV-associated diarrhea paired with the remarkable success that is reported here, at least until we have more evidence, a therapeutic study should be considered for everyone. “Such patients” may not include those who have identifiable pathogens than pathogens, since chair analyzes were carried out among the participants in the current study and all were free from identifiable pathogens at the beginning of the course. Curcumin is widely recognized as the primary therapeutic connection that is obtained from turmeric. No special form of curcumin extract was used in this study. In fact, all participants were told that they should buy curcumin themselves in natural food stores. The main researcher claimed that the various products used by the participants all seemed to have the same effectiveness (personal communication).