Comes from India and has since antiquity been used as a medication within the Hindu art of healing, Ayurveda.
Boswellia serrata is the Latin name for a small desert tree which produces a fragrant resin which is believed to be the Biblical “myrrh.”
It has been used for diarrhoea, dysentery, pulmonary diseases, boils and ringworms, and especially rheumatic diseases.
All of the medically orthodox standard drugs used for rheumatic diseases are associated with sometimes severe side effects. Because traditional healers have long used Boswellia extract with purported great effects and minimal side effects, modern Indian doctors began to examine whether modern analytical methods could support the traditional perception of the plant.
A pure extract of Boswellia serrata proved to inhibit the decomposition of the tissue that is characteristic of the rheumatic process, and showed the ability to reduce the formation of inflamed tissue. This happens by means of a biochemical mechanism that is unlike that caused by steroid preparations (e.g cortisone-like preparations), which are often used in the treatment of this disease.
In the light of this research, the Indian authorities decided to allow the marketing of a specific product containing 150 mg of Boswellia acid which was to be taken three times a day. A large number of other research teams that had examined the substance soon followed their example.
Among other things, a series of tests experimental animals have clearly shown that the substance does not have the side effects normally loading the usual rheumatic treatments: No damages on the central nervous system or the circulatory system and no secondary injuries have been recorded in the use of Boswellia.
Not all tests have been made on animals. Patient surveys have shown that Boswellia improves the blood flow to the tissue damaged by rheumatism, and re-establishes the functional capacity of the vascular tissue that has been damaged by spasms. In a 4-week treatment of 16 patients with arthritis in the knees, the results were better with Boswellia than with normal medically orthodox treatment.
Another clinical test performed by the orthopaedic ward at The Government Medical College in Jammu, India, with patients that were either bedridden or so severely crippled that they were unable to perform normal activities, has shown good results with Boswellia. 122 out of the 175 patients with rheumatoid arthritis showed improvement after 2-4 weeks of treatment with Boswellia. None of the patients complained about unpleasant side effects and the scientists concluded that they were more satisfied with this kind of treatment than with the medically orthodox treatment.
The anti-rheumatic treatment of the future might be dominated by natural plant substances without side effects.
Dosage
Standardized extract: 200 - 400 mg. 3 times a day.
