Health:-/ Curry spice 'kills cancer cells':-> The yellow spice gives curries their bright colour: An extract found in the bright yellow curry spice turmeric can kill off cancer cells, scientists have shown.

The chemical - curcumin - has long been thought to have healing powers
and is already being tested as a treatment for arthritis and even
dementia.
Now tests by a team at the Cork Cancer Research Centre show it can
destroygullet cancer cells in the lab.
Cancer experts said the findings in the British Journal of Cancer
could help doctors find new treatments.
Dr Sharon McKenna and her team found that curcumin started to kill
cancer cells within 24 hours.
'Natural' remedy
The cells also began to digest themselves, after the curcumin
triggered lethal cell death signals.
Dr McKenna said:"Scientists have known fora long time that natural
compounds have the potential to treat faulty cells that have become
cancerous and we suspected that curcumin might have therapeutic
value."
Dr Lesley Walker, director of cancer information at Cancer Research
UK, said:"This is interesting research which opens up the possibility
that naturalchemicals found in turmeric could be developed into new
treatments for oesophageal cancer.
"Rates of oesophageal cancer have gone up by more than a half since
the 70s and this is thought to be linked to rising rates of obesity,
alcohol intake andreflux disease so finding ways to prevent this
disease is important too."
Each year around 7,800 people are diagnosed withoesophageal cancer in
the UK. It is the sixth most common cause of cancer death and accounts
for around five percent of all UK cancer deaths.

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