Fact Check: Can chewing garlic, ginger, and turmeric cure brain stroke?

A video on social media claims chewing garlic, ginger, and turmeric cures brain stroke

Claim: An Instagram video claims that garlic, ginger, and turmeric cure heart attacks, paralytic attacks, etc. Among the various claims one such claim was chewing garlic, ginger, and turmeric can cure brain stroke. It further explains that chewing these will increase nitric oxide production and remove the blockage. The link to the claim is here.

Fact Check:

The claim is FALSE.

What is a Brain Stroke?

According to the National Institute of Health, “ A stroke can occur when blood flow to the brain is blocked, or there is sudden bleeding in the brain. There are two types of strokes. A stroke that occurs because blood flow to the brain is blocked is called an ischemic stroke. The brain cannot get oxygen and nutrients from the blood. Without oxygen and nutrients, brain cells begin to die within minutes. A stroke that occurs because of sudden bleeding in the brain is called a hemorrhagic stroke. The leaked blood results in pressure on brain cells, damaging them.

About 90% of strokes involve blocked blood vessels (ischemic), and the rest involve internal bleeding (hemorrhagic). Strokes are further classified based on where in the brain the blockage or bleeding occurs.” (1)

Incidence of Stroke:

The Global Stroke Factsheet released in 2022 reveals that the lifetime risk of developing a stroke has increased by 50% over the last 17 years and now 1 in 4 people is estimated to have a stroke in their lifetime. (2) Research suggests that the incidence of stroke in India ranges between 105 and 152/100,000 people per year. Stroke is now the fourth leading cause of death and the fifth leading cause of disability. (3)

How to Identify a Stroke?

Responding to the question, Dr Rahul Chawla explained, “Stroke is acute onset neurological deficit due to either clot in the vessel (Ischemic stroke) or bleeding inside brain parenchyma (ICH).

Identifying a stroke involves quickly recognizing the signs and symptoms, as early intervention is crucial for minimizing damage. The common acronym used to remember the signs of stroke is FAST:

1. *Face:* Ask the person to smile. Check if one side of their face droops.

2. *Arms:* Ask them to raise both arms and then legs. See if one limb drifts downward or is weaker than the other.

3. *Speech:* Have them repeat a sentence. Look for slurred speech.

4. *Time:* If you notice any of these signs, it's time to call emergency services immediately.

Other signs of stroke can include sudden numbness or weakness in the face, arm, or leg (especially on one side of the body), sudden confusion, trouble speaking or understanding speech, sudden trouble seeing in one or both eyes, sudden trouble walking, dizziness, loss of balance or coordination, and a severe headache with no known cause. If you suspect someone is having a stroke, don't wait to see if symptoms improve. Seek medical help immediately. Any patient arriving in hospital within a window of 4.5 hours is eligible for IV thrombolysis, which is a clot-bursting medicine given in a specific set of ischemic stroke patients after ruling out Sintra cerebral haemorrhage.”

Dr Anshu Rohatgi, Senior Consultant of Neurology Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, guided the Medical Dialogues team on how to identify a stroke. "Basically, the symptoms of a stroke are that the patient comes to us with speech difficulty, weakness of arm or leg, and walking difficulty. There may be loss of vision, there may be double vision. In addition, some patients who have severe strokes may also be unconscious. So whenever any patients come to us with these kinds of focal deficits, that is, the deficit which involves speech, weakness, or imbalance, we should rule out stroke. And treatment of stroke is very, very important because of the golden period, which is important. So any patients who, you know, who has symptoms of stroke should report immediately to any nearby hospital withn four and a half hours." 

 Does chewing garlic, ginger, and turmeric cure brain stroke?

Some studies do show that garlic, ginger, and turmeric have neuroprotective properties individually, but there is no definitive evidence supporting this claim.

Bautista-Perez SM et al. reported, "Garlic-derived preparations and compounds induce NT(neurotrophins) production, neovasculogenesis, and neuroplasticity in healthy animals and pathological models, suggesting that they could improve cognitive and motor function after stroke. (4)

Mao et al. reported that Curcumin and its analogues could play a neuroprotective role in ischemic stroke through a variety of pathways, including anti-inflammatory response, anti-oxidative stress, anti-apoptosis and autophagy. (5)

A study by Wattanathorn et al reported that ginger extract at a dose of 200 mg/kg BW can improve memory deficit in an animal model of ischemic stroke. (6)

Despite these studies, there is no definitive scientific evidence nor medical consensus that garlic, ginger, and turmeric can cure brain stroke 

Responding to the Claim, Dr Rahul Chawla explained, "This is completely unscientific, and such misleading claims can harm public health. If a patient with symptoms of acute stroke follows such unscientific advice instead of going to the hospital, it can risk his/her life. The initial 24 hours are very crucial in the management of stroke. If not treated, the patient can have recurrent strokes. Also, there is the option of IV thrombolysis and thrombectomy for a set of patients that can only be done within the first few hours of stroke onset. IV Thrombolysis and thrombectomy have been extremely effective in reversing the neurological deficit caused by stroke in a subset of patients. Hence, ignoring such unscientific, misleading claims and their spread is important. "

 Dr Anshu Rohatgi, Senior Consultant of Neurology Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, added," Claims by certain people say that garlic, ginger and turmeric can cure paralytic attacks and brain stroke. I think this is very important because all these medicines are so-called Indian herbs like garlic, ginger and turmeric. They are not there for the cure of brain strokes or paralytic attacks. They are part of a healthy diet. They are part of a diet which can help and maybe prevent stroke. We are not very sure because we do not have medical data or medical research saying that. These are all generalized statements that they are good for health. But to say that they can treat brain stroke & paralytic attacks is an exaggeration. So a healthy & balanced diet is important to prevent both paralytic attack & brain stroke."

Medical Dialogues Final take:

Garlic, Ginger, and turmeric do have some neuroprotective agents and can be included in the diet. However, chewing garlic, ginger, and turmeric can also be fatal rather than helpful in curing brain stroke, as the initial 24 hours are crucial in the management of stroke and this would only lead to waste of precious time. Hence the claim is False.

REFERENCES:

1.https://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/stroke.

2.https://www.who.int/srilanka/news/detail/29-10-2022-world-stroke-day-2022#:~:text=Stroke%20is%20the%20leading%20cause,a%20stroke%20in%20their%20lifetime.

3.Jones SP, Baqai K, Clegg A, Georgiou R, Harris C, Holland EJ, Kalkonde Y, Lightbody CE, Maulik PK, Srivastava PM, Pandian JD, Kulsum P, Sylaja PN, Watkins CL, Hackett ML. Stroke in India: A systematic review of the incidence, prevalence, and case fatality. Int J Stroke. 2022 Feb;17(2):132-140. doi: 10.1177/17474930211027834. Epub 2021 Jul 2. PMID: 34114912; PMCID: PMC8821978

4.Bautista-Perez SM, Silva-Islas CA, Sandoval-Marquez OU, Toledo-Toledo J, Bello-Martínez JM, Barrera-Oviedo D, Maldonado PD. Antioxidant and Anti-Inflammatory Effects of Garlic in Ischemic Stroke: Proposal of a New Mechanism of Protection through Regulation of Neuroplasticity. Antioxidants (Basel). 2023 Dec 16;12(12):2126. doi: 10.3390/antiox12122126. PMID: 38136245; PMCID: PMC10740829.

5.Jinjuan Mao, Lei Feng, Xiaoming Wang, Exploration of the mechanism of action of turmeric in improving ischemic stroke based on network pharmacology. MEDS Chinese Medicine (2023) Vol. 5: 64-71. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.23977/medcm.2023.050908.

6. J. Wattanathorn, J. Jittiwat, T. Tongun, S. Muchimapura, K. Ingkaninan Zingiber officinale mitigates brain damage and improves memory impairment in focal cerebral ischemic rat Evid Based Complement Alternat Med (2011), 10.1155/2011/429505