Visitor Submit by Valerie Burke, MSN, The Shungite Queen
For millennia, Frankincense has been revered for its plentiful therapeutic properties. Frankincense, a resin produced by Boswellia timber, was extremely regarded in biblical occasions for its religious, medicinal, and fragrant qualities. At the moment, science is lastly catching up with custom and revealing why this historical resin’s reputation has stood the take a look at of time.
As a medicinal agent, frankincense is solely known as “boswellia.” Boswellia has phenomenal anti-inflammatory properties that make it a extremely efficient pure remedy for osteoarthritis, in addition to for therapeutic and rejuvenating the pores and skin.
Latest research have turned the highlight towards boswellia’s advantages for different main inflammatory circumstances – equivalent to autoimmune illnesses and mind accidents – a couple of of which would be the focus of this text.
5 Situations Boswellia Could Assist
1. Inflammatory Bowel Illness (IBD), together with ulcerative colitis, Crohn’s illness and collagenous colitis2. Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA)3. A number of Sclerosis (MS)4. Stroke or Mind Ischemia5. Traumatic Mind Damage (TBI)
Boswellia’s Function in Autoimmune Illness
Autoimmune illnesses happen when your physique develops an overactive immune response in opposition to its personal tissues. A few of the compounds in boswellia have demonstrated “immunomodulatory” results – that means, they act as modulators on your immune system when it runs amuck. You possibly can perceive how helpful this could possibly be with an autoimmune situation.
A few of the oldest makes use of of frankincense contain remedy of varied autoimmune and inflammation-related circumstances equivalent to bronchial asthma, arthritis and continual bowel illnesses. Boswellia’s numerous mechanisms of motion and its affect on autoimmunity are closely tied into its potent anti-inflammatory properties.
Boswellia interferes with autoimmune illness improvement within the following methods:
Helps management the manufacturing of immunoglobulins, or antibodies, which your immune system makes to combat potential threats like micro organism, viruses, and toxins
Inhibits leukotriene manufacturing; leukotrienes are tied to many autoimmune illnesses
Modulates cytokines, T-cells and different immune cells and mediators which might be key gamers in your immune response (Ammon 2010).
What’s in Boswellia that does all this?
The important thing compounds are referred to as boswellic acids, or BA for brief. One specifically has been recognized as the first bioactive agent: acetyl-11-keto-β-boswellic acid, or AKBA. AKBA inhibits an enzyme referred to as 5-lipoxygenase (5-LOX), which is concerned within the synthesis of leukotrienes and performs a key function in mind irritation – amongst different issues.
For that reason, many of the present boswellia research take a look at BA, and AKBA particularly.
It’s necessary to notice that the BAs should not current in frankincense important oil as a result of these molecules are too giant for volatilization throughout distillation. They have to be extracted utilizing different processes, equivalent to into an extract or frankincense resin oil.
>> The Gem of the Therapeutic Kingdom: Frankincense Oil
Now, let’s take a peek at a couple of of the research that recommend how Boswellia may assist when you’ve got one in all these circumstances.
Inflammatory Bowel Illness
Inflammatory bowel illness (IBD) is a time period for a lot of intestinal problems marked by continual irritation of the digestive tract. Ulcerative colitis, Crohn’s illness and collagenous colitis fall into this group.
Leukotrienes play a key function in this sort of intestine irritation that creates such distress for thus many – however Boswellia holds nice promise right here! It has been proven to scale back irritation and swelling of the intestine wall, restoring wholesome cell buildings, and therapeutic and sealing “holes” within the intestine, thereby normalizing bowel operate.
Two research deserve point out.
The primary research (Gupta et al 1997) concerned sufferers who got 350 mg Boswellia extract 3 times every day for six weeks for ulcerative colitis. After six weeks, a whopping 82 % went into remission – which was a better proportion than the sufferers taking the usual prescription of sulfasalazine.
In a second research involving colitis sufferers (Gupta et al 2001), 300 mg of Boswellia extract was given 3 times a day for six weeks. Ninety % of these sufferers confirmed symptomatic enchancment, and 70 % went into full remission.
Boswellia has additionally been proven efficient at facilitating remission in these with collagenous colitis, which is characterised by stomach ache, rectal bleeding and diarrhea.
Rheumatoid Arthritis
Boswellic acid is exhibiting nice promise in the direction of serving to to alleviate the joint ache and irritation that’s so generally related to rheumatoid arthritis (RA). There are lots of anecdotal human reviews of enchancment, however research stay considerably restricted.
One research involving rats (Kumar et al 2019) evaluated Boswellia serrata extract for induced RA. The extract considerably diminished irritation and was deemed an efficient remedy. One other rodent research (Umar et al 2014) produced comparable findings, main the researchers to conclude that Boswellia extract successfully inhibits proinflammatory cytokines within the pathogenesis of rheumatoid arthritis.
A number of Sclerosis
When you have a number of sclerosis (MS), there may be additionally excellent news. Preliminary research recommend boswellia could tamp down irritation within the central nervous system, and this might translate to large advantages for MS victims.
MS is an autoimmune illness marked by dysregulated T-cells that assault the physique, particularly these within the mind and spinal wire. As an overactive immune system destroys these nerves, people start experiencing episodes of neurologic dysfunction equivalent to lack of imaginative and prescient, incapacity to stroll, and cognitive deficits. Too typically, this results in lifelong incapacity.
Mind demyelination is without doubt one of the results of MS. A 2024 research (Shadab et al 2024) discovered boswellia to considerably cut back mind demyelination in rats, in addition to lowering their encephalomyelitis-related signs.
MS is a neuroinflammatory illness. Scientists have decided that mind lesions kind on account of “smoldering irritation” within the mind as MS progresses over time. It’s estimated that 40 to 60 % of MS sufferers expertise a point of cognitive impairment.
A human research (Majdinasab et al 2016) demonstrated that taking a boswellia complement improved cognitive impairment amongst MS victims. A gaggle of 60 MS sufferers got 450mg of boswellia powder twice every day for 2 months, in comparison with a placebo group. The boswellia group confirmed statistically important enchancment over placebo in each visuospatial and verbal capacities.
Boswellia not solely lowers irritation, however it’s neuroprotective and really helps lay down new nerve networks. It has additionally demonstrated the flexibility to dam degenerative adjustments in your mind’s hippocampus, immediately affecting reminiscence processing.
However boswellia doesn’t cease there – it does even MORE on your mind!
Cerebral Edema
Probably the most highly effective boswellia research thus far concerned sufferers with cerebral edema secondary to mind irradiation therapies for mind tumors.
Irradiating the mind as a remedy for mind tumors has the unlucky facet impact of inflicting extra fluid to build up contained in the mind, leading to intracranial swelling, in any other case generally known as cerebral edema. This edema is usually dealt with with steroids.
On this trial (Kirste et al 2011), sufferers receiving radiotherapy for his or her tumors got boswellia for administration of mind swelling. The boswellia carried out spectacularly, thereby lowering their want for steroids – all the time an excellent factor.
Nonetheless, the researchers encountered an surprising discovering. The sufferers receiving the boswellia skilled an EXTRA profit – a greater tumor response to the radiotherapy!
This isn’t shocking given the massive quantity of scientific literature supporting boswellia’s antitumor, anticancer advantages. However, it was a shock to the scientists conducting the research – a testomony to boswellia’s immense therapeutic potential (Iram et al 2017).
Stroke & Traumatic Mind Damage
Not surprisingly, AKBA additionally seems to be neuroprotective in opposition to cell harm brought on by ischemic stroke and restorative to mind tissue after traumatic mind accidents.
A Polish research (Sadeghnia et al 2017) discovered that AKBA does certainly shield neurons in opposition to oxidative stress and ischemic harm. Then, in a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled medical trial involving post-TBI sufferers (Meshkat et al 2022), these handled with boswellia extract for 3 months confirmed important enchancment throughout all cognitive assessments.
The authors of a 2020 evaluate entitled “Genus Boswellia as a New Candidate for Neurodegenerative Problems” summarized it finest (Rajabian et al 2020):
“In vitro, animal, and medical research have confirmed that Boswellia species include bioactive elements that will improve cognitive exercise and shield in opposition to neurodegeneration. They exert the helpful results by way of focusing on a number of pathological causes by antioxidative, anti-inflammatory, antiamyloidogenic, and anti-apoptotic properties. The Boswellia species, having neuroprotective potential, makes them a promising candidate to treatment or forestall the neurodegenerative problems.”
A Message of Hope
The jury is in – Boswellia is the bomb!
Rising scientific proof helps the potential advantages of boswellia for managing autoimmune illness and mind irritation. Its anti-inflammatory and immunomodulatory properties provide promising avenues for therapeutic purposes.
Having a robust option to handle irritation is not any small breakthrough as a result of, as you understand, the overwhelming majority of well being issues are associated to irritation – in a method or one other.
In fact, extra in depth medical trials are essential to totally set up its efficacy and security profiles in these contexts. However up to now, all roads are pointing in the identical path – the path of HOPE if you happen to or a liked one occurs to be affected by one in all these debilitating circumstances.
The place can you discover this valuable oil?
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