Omega-3 Fatty Acid Plus Curry Spice Ingredient Repair Tissue Damage in Rats with Spinal-cord Injuries

UCLA researchers have discovered that a diet enriched with omega-3 fatty acid and an ingredient in curry spice preserved the ability of rats with spinal-cord injuries to walk. The findings, which suggest that these dietary supplements help repair nerve cells and maintain neurological function after degenerative damage to the rats’ necks, appear in the June 26 issue of Journal of Neurosurgery: Spine.

“Normal aging often narrows the spinal canal, putting pressure on the spinal cord and injuring tissue,” says principal investigator Langston Holly, MD, associate professor of neurosurgery at UCLA’s David Geffen School of Medicine. “While surgery can relieve the pressure and prevent further injury, it can’t repair damage to the cells and nerve fibers. We wanted to explore whether dietary supplementation could help the spinal cord heal itself.” For more information, click here to read the full release.