Turmeric gives little relief for psoriasis

PHILADELPHIA, March 1 (UPI) -- Pennsylvania researchers said the spice turmeric appears to provide few benefits to patients seeking relief from psoriasis.

While laboratory tests demonstrated the ability of curcumin -- the active ingredient in the turmeric -- to inhibit a critical pathway of psoriasis, the positive response in patients was so low that scientists suggest the placebo effect or the disease's natural remission might be the reason, the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine said Friday in a release.

The findings are published in the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology.

Dr. Joel M. Gelfand, said oral curcumin should not be recommended for the treatment of psoriasis given the lack of proven efficacy.

Researchers said an estimated 51 percent of U.S. psoriasis patients use complementary and alternative medicine therapies to treat their skin.

"What is needed is scientific data to assess the safety and efficacy of these treatments so that we may more rationally inform patients of their treatment options," Gelfand said.