New Approach to Chronic Disease Management

Antioxidant Phytochemicals for Prevention and Treatment of Chronic Diseases.

Today, chronic illnesses are the leading cause of death in the world, and their impact is steadily rising. Approximately 30 million people die prematurely each year as a result of the global epidemic of chronic diseases.

The ideal approach is to eliminate the risk factors so as to prevent chronic diseases such as cardiovascular disease, cancer and diabetes mellitus. It has been known for decades that important risk factors for many of these chronic conditions are:

* smoking,

* excessive alcohol consumption,

* unhealthy eating habits,

* the unhealthy way of life in general

However, no progress has been made to eliminate these high-risk factors.

In the prevention of chronic diseases, as research expands and links many chronic diseases with inflammatory events, a new therapeutic approach appears for the treatment of the inflammatory diseases.

NSAIDs are widely used to treat many chronic inflammatory conditions. These agents primarily act to suppress the formation of pre-inflammatory eicosanoids. Data show that inhibition of cyclooxygenase (COX) and lipoxygenase (LOX) are equally important for the inhibition of chronic inflammation and cancer. However, it is useful to know that available non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs are primarily COX inhibitors alone.

There are natural means that are capable of shaping the activity of both LOX and COX. As a result, they provide several advantages over synthetic drugs in the prevention and treatment of chronic diseases.

Curcumin supports the enzymatic regulation of COX and LOX and has beneficial effects on the prevention of inflammatory diseases. Curcumin has both anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties! There are great advantages of curcumin administration in the regulation of COX and LOX pathways, especially when compared to synthetic COX or LOX inhibitors.

Read about the mechanism of action of curcumin here