Frankincense provides relief to arthritis sufferers/Herb NOT oil

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BioMed Central

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-07/bc-fpr072808.php

 

From Arthritis Research & Therapy

 

Frankincense provides relief to arthritis sufferers

An enriched extract of the 'Indian Frankincense' herb Boswellia

serrata has been proven to reduce the symptoms of osteoarthritis.

Research published today 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 " .

 

 

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Notes to Editors

 

1. A double blind, randomized, placebo controlled study of the

efficacy and safety of 5-Loxin® 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)

 

During embargo, article available here:

http://arthritis-research.com/imedia/1806060114163435_article.pdf

After the embargo, article available at journal website:

http://arthritis-research.com/

 

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the web, please link to the article. All articles are available free

of charge, according to BioMed Central's open access policy.

 

Article citation and URL available on request at

press on the day of publication

 

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.

 

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