Curcuma Longa (turmeric) – a Common Spice With the Ability to Heal Dry, Damaged Skin
Across the East, from India to Thailand, curcuma longa — better known as turmeric — is used to treat or help prevent a number of conditions including rheumatoid arthritis, hepatitis, liver problems, menstrual disturbances, fibromylagia, Alzheimer’s disease, ringworm and bruising. It’s long been used as a paste or poultice for the treatment of dry and flaking skin.
If curcuma longa is such a miracle cure, why is it not used more readily in the West? One reason may be that turmeric is naturally part of the diet in Asian countries. It’s commonly used in curries, for example. Americans, who are less likely to keep turmeric in their spice cabinet, may also be less familiar with alternative treatments.
It’s more likely that the West isn’t as attuned to the healing potential of turmeric because our culture views medicine differently. Alternative or natural treatments are rarely recommended or encouraged by doctors or nurses. Western medicine takes a drug-centric approach, which requires scores of clinical trials, before receiving public approval. Subsequently, in the absence of numerous, documented scientific studies, the evidence is considered inconclusive. Since pharmaceutical companies fund many if not most, clinical trials with profits at stake, it stands to reason that basic botanical treatments are getting less financial support and therefore, less evidence considered conclusive by the medical community.
Nonetheless, curcuma longa (turmeric) is rapidly gaining attention and governmental support.
