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Turmeric (Curcuma longa L.), which is classified into the
curcuma genus in the ginger family originated in the tropics
of Asia, has long been used in Okinawa as a folk medicine
mainly for the liver since the era of Ryukyu Dynasty. Also,
turmeric is widely used in curry powder among the Japanese
and a lot of reports on the efficacy of turmeric have been
found.
However, use of turmeric as a food material has been
limited because of its generic bitterness. Thus, Ryukyu
Bio-Resource Development Co., Ltd. has successfully
developed fermented turmeric having improved tastiness,
increased anti-oxidative activity and increased mineral
content by fermenting turmeric with a group of lactobacillus
and this has realized daily use of turmeric in an easier
fashion than ever.
The present population of the patients infected with type B
chronic hepatitis in Japan is said to be about 1.2 to 1.5
millions and the major part of them is estimated to be
affected through vertical infection from their mothers.
Notwithstanding that vaccination has taken place as a
preventive measures against type B hepatitis virus, the
number of the chronic patients goes on increasing. Further,
dosing of medicines, such as vaccines and the like, produces
a strong side effect, which is a significant burden on the
patients.
Therefore, at our hospital, simultaneous dosing of
both medicines and fermented turmeric tablets (developed by
Ryukyu Bio-Resource Development Co.) was made as an
alternative supplementary treatment (with the daily dosage
of 20 tablets, each having the weight of 200mg, during the
period of 7.7 months in average) for 14 patients (11 male
and 3 female patients of 52.3 years old in average) that
have been infected with type B chronic hepatitis in order to
measure the usefulness and efficacy (GPT, HBV, DNA
polymerase, HBe antibody and subjective symptoms) of the
fermented turmeric.
As the result, the simultaneous dosing
of the fermented turmeric showed the usefulness and efficacy
as high as 60% or more against type B chronic hepatitis,
while no side effect was found in all the subjects. |
