Frankincense Provides Relief To OA Sufferers | Arthritis Information

An enriched extract of the 'Indian Frankincense' herb Boswellia serrata has been proven to reduce the symptoms of osteoarthritis. Research published in BioMed Central's open access journal Arthritis Research & Therapy has shown that patients taking the herbal remedy showed significant improvement in as little as seven days.

Osteoarthritis is the most common form of arthritis; it commonly affects weight-bearing joints such as the knees and hips, along with the hands, wrists, feet and spine. The symptoms include pain, stiffness and limited movement. This randomised, double-blinded, placebo-controlled trial of 70 patients will be of great interest to sufferers, especially those who don't get adequate relief from existing treatments.

The study was led by Siba Raychaudhuri, a faculty member of the University of California, Davis, in the United States. According to Raychaudhuri, "The high incidence of adverse affects associated with currently available medications has created great interest in the search for an effective and safe alternative treatment". The extract the authors used was enriched with 30% AKBA (3-O-acetyl-11-keto-beta-boswellic acid), which is thought to be the most active ingredient in the plant. Raychaudhuri said, "AKBA has anti-inflammatory properties, and we have shown that B. serrata enriched with AKBA can be an effective treatment for osteoarthritis of the knee". This is a proprietary product developed by Laila Nutraceuticals.

B. serrata has been used for thousands of years in the Indian system of traditional medicine known as 'Ayurveda'. This study is the first to prove that an enriched extract of the plant can be used as a successful treatment.

The same authors have previously tested the safety of their remedy in animal experiments. They say that, "In this study, the compound was shown to have no major adverse effects in our osteoarthritis patients. It is safe for human consumption and even for long-term use".

Notes:

1. A double blind, randomized, placebo controlled study of the efficacy and safety of 5-Loxin(R) for treatment of osteoarthritis of the knee
Krishanu Sengupta, Krishnaraju V Alluri, Andey Rama Sathis, Simanchala Mishra, Trimurtulu Golakoti, Kadainti VS Sarma, Dipak Dey and Siba P Raychaudhuri
Arthritis Research & Therapy (in press)
Article available at journal website: http://arthritis-research.com/
All articles are available free of charge, according to BioMed Central's open access policy.

2. Arthritis Research & Therapy is an international, peer-reviewed online and print journal, publishing original research, reviews, commentaries and reports. Studies relate to the rationale and treatment of arthritis, autoimmune disease and diseases of bone and cartilage. The journal is edited by Prof Peter E Lipsky (USA) and Prof Sir Ravinder N Maini (UK) and has an Impact Factor of 4.04.

3. BioMed Central (http://www.biomedcentral.com/) is an independent online publishing house committed to providing immediate access without charge to the peer-reviewed biological and medical research it publishes. This commitment is based on the view that open access to research is essential to the rapid and efficient communication of science.

Source: Graeme Baldwin
BioMed Central
Competing interests -

Competing interests

This study is funded by Laila Impex R&D Center, India. KS, TG and KVA are employee of Laila

Impex Research Centre, Vijayawada, India. ARS and SM are employee of ASRAM, Eluru, India.

KVSS (SV University, Tirupati, India), DD (University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT, USA) and

SPR (University of California Davis Medical Center, Davis, CA and VA Medical Center

Sacramento, CA, USA) are consultants for the Laila Impex Research Center.

My AP doc likes this stuff, and my Intergrative Medicine Doc - but this stuff is again, bought and paid for. When are we going to get the real scoop?

Pip

Edited because the cut and paste made it huge. Pip!2008-07-31 14:27:38

"When are we going to get the real scoop"?

When private research receives the required amount of money from non-interest areas. So, until then we take what we can, do our own research, weed through it all and use the info as best we can. If we wait for private research to be funded to your standards we'll be waiting a long time for information. Even with private funding you still don't know where the money comes from. It's impossible to follow the money. It's imperfect but it's the best we have.

"B. serrata has been used for thousands of years in the Indian system of traditional medicine known as 'Ayurveda'. This study is the first to prove that an enriched extract of the plant can be used as a successful treatment "

I think a 1,000 years usage in Ayurvedic medicine might be better than all the research in the world. We still have a lot to learn from Ayurvedic medicine and it's history. Lindy