Boswellia in joints? The real benefits of boswellia in the paper
Osteoarthritis Symptoms
Hello. I'm a pharmacist Jinny.
Chronic joint pain, one of the major health problems that reduces quality of life. In addition, joints are the first organs of the body that show signs of aging, and after the age of 40, most of them are fingers · Wrist · Knee · You will experience chronic joint pain, mainly in the shoulders and back.
For this reason, ingredients that are said to be good for 'joints' or 'joint pain' receive a lot of attention and attention. In fact, joint problems can be caused by a variety of causes, from infections and inflammation to autoimmune diseases, and can be caused not only by the joints but also by ligaments, cartilage, and muscles, so it is important to understand your joint problems accurately and take appropriate measures.
With this in mind, today we're going to take a look at boswellia, an ingredient that has been getting a lot of attention when it comes to joints. As many of you know, Boswellia is the resin of the frankincense tree (Boswellia serrata), which grows in the arid mountainous regions of India and North Africa, and is believed to have been used medicinally since around 1500 BC [1].
Boswellia has been used since ancient times to treat inflammation and infection. Let's take a look at what the scientific research is doing and what kind of joint and health problems it can help with.
The most common cause of joint pain is osteoarthritis. Osteoarthritis is an inflammatory joint disease that mainly damages articular cartilage, causing degeneration of articular cartilage and is characterized by involvement of the entire joint tissue. This can lead to joint degeneration, fibrosis, and fractures.
Currently, the most common treatment for osteoarthritis is NSAIDs, but NSAIDs may have an adverse effect on repairing or treating cartilage degenerated by osteoarthritis because they interfere with the synthesis of glycosaminoglycans, which make up skin tissue and cartilage.
For this reason, research is continuously being conducted in academia to find effective alternatives, and one of the ingredients that has been sought out as an alternative is boswellia. A 2020 study that comprehensively reviewed the results of clinical trials of boswellia in osteoarthritis patients to date suggests that boswellia may be a safe adjuvant treatment for osteoarthritis [2].
"An analysis of seven clinical trials involving 545 patients showed relief of joint pain and stiffness and improvement of joint function in the boswellia group compared to the control group. Based on the evidence to date, boswellia and its extracts may be an effective and safe treatment option for osteoarthritis patients."
In the previous study, I mentioned that boswellia is being studied in academia as an alternative to nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) for osteoarthritis. This is based on the unique anti-inflammatory activity of boswellia, which does not interfere with the synthesis of glycaminoglycans, which make up tissues such as skin and cartilage.
This activity of boswellia does not only help with osteoarthritis. Alternative treatment with boswellia is also actively being researched in the treatment of inflammatory bowel diseases such as ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease, which require limited use of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, and a clinical improvement in colitis with boswellia was reported in a clinical trial by Madisch, A and the researchers (2007) in patients with chronic inflammatory bowel disease [3].
"Clinical improvement was seen at 6 weeks of Boswellia supplementation. ... In conclusion, this study suggests that the consumption of Boswellia serrata extract may be a clinically effective and safe treatment for patients with inflammatory bowel disease."
Like osteoarthritis and inflammatory bowel disease, bronchial asthma is an inflammatory condition that causes inflammation but limits the use of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs). This is because bronchoconstriction can occur due to the use of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, which occur in about 10% of people who take them, but can be fatal in patients with bronchial asthma, so caution should be exercised when taking them.
For this reason, research is being conducted on whether boswellia can be an alternative treatment for bronchial asthma, and significant research results are accumulating. As early as 1998, Gupta, I and researchers conducted a clinical trial evaluating the effects of boswellia intake on 40 patients with bronchial asthma. This study reports an improvement in physical symptoms and signs following the consumption of boswellia [4].
"In 70% of the boswellia group, loss of physical symptoms and signs, such as dyspnea, dry blisters, and a decrease in seizures, as well as an increase in forced expiratory volume, exertional lung capacity, and maximal expiratory flow, and an improvement in disease was observed. ... These data demonstrate the clear role of Boswellia in the treatment of bronchial asthma."
Today, we took a look at boswellia, which is getting a lot of attention for its joint health properties. As most studies have examined the usefulness of boswellia in diseases that involve inflammation but require limited use of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), it is believed that boswellia may have some benefit in chronic inflammatory diseases in general.
However, while there are a number of studies that have reported boswellia's osteoarthritis-improving activity, there have been cases where no clear benefit has been observed in rheumatoid arthritis. Therefore, when you want to take boswellia for your joints, it is best to understand your own joint problems and use them for good.
I hope you have a healthy day in body and mind. It was Jinny.
[1] Moussaieff, A., & Mechoulam, R. (2009). Boswellia resin: from religious ceremonies to medical uses; a review of in-vitro, in-vivo and clinical trials. Journal of Pharmacy and Pharmacology, 61(10), 1281-1293.
[2] Yu, G., Xiang, W., Zhang, T., Zeng, L., Yang, K., & Li, J. (2020). Effectiveness of Boswellia and Boswellia extract for osteoarthritis patients: a systematic review and meta-analysis. BMC Complementary Medicine and Therapies, 20(1), 1-16.
[3] Madisch, A., Miehlke, S., Eichele, O., Mrwa, J., Bethke, B., Kuhlisch, E., ... & Stolte, M. (2007). Boswellia serrata extract for the treatment of collagenous colitis. A double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled, multicenter trial. International journal of colorectal disease, 22(12), 1445-1451.
[4] Gupta, I., Gupta, V., Parihar, A., Gupta, S., Lüdtke, R., Safayhi, H., & Ammon, H. P. (1998). Effects of Boswellia serrata gum resin in patients with bronchial asthma: results of a double-blind, placebo-controlled, 6-week clinical study. European journal of medical research, 3(11), 511-514.
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