Cyanide

Wow, this is going to be fun. I am going to tackle this one first, then once I am done baseboards in the bathroom I might tackle some of the orthopedic questions.

OK, checking through pubmed rather quickly I noticed a review of all available data regarding this directly. Curcumin, which is believed to be the "active component" of Turmeric does seem to have some ability to alter gene expression in animal chondroblasts (cartilage progenerator cells) and is seemingly believed to have some anti-inflammatory effect. Some caveats though would be that, as a supplement, having to go up against the GI system and then the liver before it gets into the blood, its unlikely to show any objective anti-inflammatory benefit systemically. The review article does note that further, properly designed studies need to be conducted before it should be advocated for treatment of inflammatory conditions (this usually means that the available data consists of small crappy studies [SCS] that are not statistically powerful enough to prove anything; to see into the truth, bigger studies with rigid controls are needed). As an aside, osteoarthritis is no longer believed to be a true inflammatory condition and so, this is probably why we aren't seeing much benefit from anti-inflammatories in general (it seems to be more of an analgesic effect we are getting from the drugs).

So, bottom line....in cell cultures it might be beneficial, but the delivery method is probably going to get in the way of experiencing any "real" benefit to the person. That being said, if you believe it helps, and it isn't itself causing you any harm....then its reasonable to give it a shot. Just don't take too much of it, as any ill effects in the face of unlikely benefit is a net decrease in quality of life.

Cheers

John