Incense-based treatment for multiple sclerosis?

110,000 people in France suffer from multiple sclerosis National Institute of Health and Medical Research (Inserm). It is the leading cause of severe non-traumatic disability in adolescents.

Currently, there is no cure for this disease. Are only proposed to relieve patients and improve their quality of life. But according to a new study conducted and published in Germany British Medical Journal (BMJ), the researchers found one well. Surprising fact: it depends on the incense!

Boswellic acid and 5-lipoxygenase

“Initially, basic work was done in the 90s to detect large amounts of an enzyme called 5-lipoxygenase in the brain of patients with multiple sclerosis.Clarissa Hanja Sterner, one of the authors of the study, said: “5-lipoxygenase is part of a class of lipids that act as messengers of inflammation in the body, but what’s the connection with spices? If given to the patient, it reduces the inflammation of his illness.

“We assume that the bioactive formulas of the spice that have been used as an anti-inflammatory substance for thousands of years in traditional Oriental and Oriental medicine are boswellic acids., Say researchers. Several small randomized clinical trials have shown a favorable safety and tolerance profile of spices in many inflammatory and autoimmune diseases.“.

Incense in the form of capsules

To confirm that boswellic acid is effective in treating multiple sclerosis, scientists conducted a clinical trial on 28 volunteers suffering from the disease. For eight months, they took four aromatic capsules three times a day in the form of ethanol extract. And the results are reliable: “lInflammation levels were significantly lower in patients treated with spices, 63% of all patients, and some of them had no inflammation in the brain.“, Clarissa Hanja Sterner explains that among the beneficial effects of this treatment, some patients have a mild recurrence of the disease within months of taking the capsules.

Scientists plan to conduct new clinical trials to better understand the mechanisms of Boswellic acid action and eventually develop a new treatment for multiple sclerosis.